Love is all you need
by Ultimate Queen of Cliffies
Summary: Frex has arranged a marriage and Elphaba is not happy about it... even though she is not the one going to be married. That's right - it's NOT going to be the plain old arranged Fiyeraba marriage :). Shiz-era, AU. Starts out as Galiyero, later changes to Elphiyero and Galinda/OC. Plus there's some Bessa in here.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Good afternoon (at least, it is here) my dear readers! :) Let me start by promising I _will _finish Yero my Hero, but inspiration struck me for this one and so I decided to start it right away. I guess the title kind of sucks, so if any of you know a better one... humour me.**

**This is set right after Lurlinemas, about 2-3 months after the Lion Cub scene, so it's AU - Elphaba wasn't invited to meet the Wizard (yet?). Boq and Nessa are dating and unlike in the musical, they both truly love each other. I guess that's all you need to know beforehand :).**

**I hope you all like this :). Please review!**

**General disclaimer for this entire story: I wish I did own Wicked, but I don't, so don't sue me, please.**

* * *

'Elphieeeeee!' The green girl barely had time to turn around before she was attacked by a pink powder puff that squeezed her into a tight hug until she could barely breathe. 'I missed you sooooo much!'

'I missed you too, Galinda,' said Elphaba, patting the blonde's back, with a smile. 'Even though you insisted on writing me every other day or so. Really, couldn't you go two days without having to tell me about all the parties you've been attending and all the gossip you picked up on?'

'No!' Galinda said firmly. 'You're my bestest friend, you should know all those things first! And come on, even _you _must have been shocked to hear that Miss Liina has slept with the Crown Prince of the Glikkus!'

'I wasn't.'

'Elphie!' Galinda gasped in shock and Elphaba rolled her eyes, then grinned – she had truly missed her blonde friend and it was nice to see her again, no matter how annoying she could be at times. 'Lin, I don't know either Miss Liina or the Crown Prince of the Glikkus, so why should I care if they have slept together?'

Galinda threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. 'You're hopeless, Elphie!' she exclaimed. Then she giggled and hugged the green girl again. 'Oh, I missed you! Four weeks was just too long! Have you had a nice Lurlinemas?'

'It was fine,' said Elphaba, not wanting to tell her friend that Lurlinemas, for her, had merely existed of cooking, taking care of Frex's guests, and cleaning the house. 'Did you?'

Galinda immediately started rambling about everything that had happened at her parents' annual Lurlinemas ball, whom had danced with whom, who had kissed who and who had been trying to court her, even though they knew she was dating Fiyero. 'I danced with a few, of course, but I just found it infuriating that they would try and woo me when they know I'm already taken!'

'How dare they,' Elphaba said drily, struggling to keep a straight face, but Galinda only nodded and threw one hand in the air. 'I knew you would understand! It's just not _done_! Anyway, then Pfannee and Shenshen and their escorts arrived, and…' She rambled on again and Elphaba pretended to listen as she unpacked her things and put them away. At last, Galinda was done talking and slightly out of breath she asked the green girl, 'Shall we go to the Shiz Café for dinner? I bet Boq and Nessa will be there, too.'

'Fiyero too?' asked Elphaba, but the blonde's face fell immediately. 'No…' she said vaguely. 'He won't arrive until tomorrow, I believe.' She sighed and fell down on her bed, lying on her back with her limbs spread across the fluffy pink sheets. 'Elphie, I don't know what to do with him! Remember what I told you before, about him being all moodified and distant after the day they took away Doctor Dillamond?'

_Lion Cub Day,_ Elphaba thought immediately, because that was what she had named the day in her mind. She was quite certain that Fiyero's behaviour wasn't caused by the arrest of Doctor Dillamond, but rather by what had happened afterwards in the woods. She wasn't going to share that information with the blonde, however. 'Yes, I remember.'

'It's only gotten worse!' Galinda wailed, clutching a feather pillow to her chest before pulling it down over her head. 'I just don't _know _him anymore!' she continued, her shrill voice now muffled by the pillow. 'He's been _thinking_, which worries me to no end, and he doesn't seem to take an interest in me anymore… He never asks me out on another date! And over Lurlinemas break, he only sent me fourteen letters. _Fourteen_! Can you believe it?'

Elphaba stifled a laugh. 'Galinda, I'm pretty sure _I _didn't even send you fourteen letters. That's three to four letters a week. I'm not an expert on relationships, obviously, but I think that's a fair amount of letters for a boy to send to his girlfriend.'

Galinda scowled at her. 'No, it's not! You're my friend, Elphie, that's _different_! Boyfriends should be sending their girlfriends letters _every day_!'

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. 'Ah, well… I'm actually surprised Fiyero even knows how to write at all,' she smirked and the blonde sighed and buried her face in the pillow again. 'You just don't get it, Elphie… I… I don't think he loves me anymore!'

Elphaba sighed, then went to sit down on the edge of Galinda's bed and rubbed circles on the blonde's back. 'I'm sure that's not true, Lin. Perhaps there is something going on, you know, is he having personal issues, something to do with his family… I'm sure you'll be fine.'

Galinda sniffed, then shook her head angrily. 'No, it's not that, I know it. Here!' She jumped up and started rummaging through one of her still unpacked bags before pulling out a piece of paper and waving it in her roommate's face. 'Read this! If this isn't cool and distant, then nothing is!'

Elphaba took the piece of paper from her friend and read it.

_Dear Galinda,_

_It's good to hear you have been well. _

_I am having a nice vacation as well. My mother has been hosting a banquet for Lurlinemas, which I have naturally attended. It was good to be home again and to see my friends and family._

_Have you by any chance heard from Elphaba? And Boq and Nessa, too, of course? I don't know their addresses, so I haven't been able to write to them. Are they having a nice vacation as well?_

_I'll see you again in a week. Enjoy the rest of your vacation._

_Take care,_

_Fiyero_

Elphaba's eyes had widened slightly. 'Wow,' she breathed. 'Okay, like I said, I'm anything but an expert on relationships, and I really hate to make you feel bad, but… well, I can sugar coat it, but this is just plain cold. Even I can see that this is _not _the way boyfriends are supposed to write to their girlfriends.'

'I know!' Galinda wailed, plunging face down into the pillows again. 'And all fourteen of his letters were like this! Cold and distant and so not like him! Elphie, I'm losing him and I don't know what to do about it!' She started weeping and Elphaba rubbed her back again in a soothing manner. 'Ssh, Lin, it's okay! Why don't you just go and talk to him about it? Like I said, perhaps there's something else going on, something that doesn't have anything to do with you at all!'

Galinda sat up, sniffling, and wiped her nose with the sleeve of her dress. 'You think?'

Elphaba hesitated. She didn't _really _think so, but she wanted to reassure her friend, so she said, 'Well, you won't find out until you talk to him, right?'

'Right,' Galinda agreed, much happier already. 'All right. I'll go talk to him as soon as he arrives tomorrow! Now let's go have dinner, Elphie – I'm starving!'

* * *

'Galinda!' Nessa greeted the blonde with a warm smile. Galinda beamed at her and hugged the wheelchair-bound girl. 'Hi, Nessa! It's good to see you! You too, Boq,' she added, and Boq smiled at her. 'How are you?' Galinda asked as she and Elphaba sat down opposite the couple. She noticed that Boq and Nessa were holding hands and smiled a bit sadly. 'Still happily together?'

'Yes,' Boq said, laughing, and Nessa nodded with a radiating smile. Only Elphaba noticed the sad look on Galinda's face and she poked her friend softly in the side. 'Don't, Lin. You and Fiyero will be fine,' she whispered and the blonde flashed her a grateful smile.

They exchanged stories about their vacations all throughout dinner and by the time Galinda and Elphaba returned to their dorm room together, the blonde had returned to her bubbly, perky self. 'Hey Elphie,' she said as she plopped down on the edge of her bed and swung her legs back and forth. 'Remember that we told each other secrets the night we became friends?'

Elphaba feared that she knew what was coming, so she just searched for her nightgown in the closet and avoided her roommate's eyes. 'Yes…'

'Why don't we do that again!' Galinda said brightly, eyes shimmering. Elphaba sighed and turned around. 'I don't really have that many secrets, Galinda.' _Except that I'm pretty sure I'm the reason Fiyero's been acting weird around you for the past months. Because we had this strange moment when we saved that Lion Cub together – oh, that's right, you didn't know that either: I didn't save that Cub by myself. Fiyero was with me. Want to hear something else I'm not telling you? I think I'm in love with your boyfriend._ Denying the fact that she was having secrets was downright lying to her roommate and she didn't like that, but she just couldn't tell Galinda. She was her best friend, for Oz's sake!

Galinda sighed. 'No… I don't, either.' She thought for a moment. 'Let's play a different game, then.'

'Lin, I'm really rather tired,' Elphaba called from the bathroom, where she was changing into her black nightgown. 'Can't we just go to sleep?'

'No,' Galinda said sternly. 'I haven't seen you in four weeks, so now I have the right to keep you up all night. Let me give you a makeover!'

'I'm going to sleep!' Elphaba exclaimed quickly and ducked underneath the blankets. Galinda jumped up from her bed, launched herself at the lump under the sheets that was her roommate and started tickling her. 'Oh, no, you're not! Let me give you a makeover or I'm going to tickle you to death!'

Elphaba was squirming. 'Galinda! Stop it!' she protested, but she was laughing, so it didn't make much of an impression. After a while, she managed to wriggle herself out from under the blonde's grasp and she leapt from the bed. 'Stop it! I hate tickling!'

Galinda smirked at her. 'Makeover?'

'No!'

'Different game then?' She pursed her lips, then giggled. 'Truth or dare?'

'_Galinda_!'

'Truth or dare?' the blonde insisted. Elphaba sighed and gave up, slumping back down onto the bed. 'Dare.'

'Lick the wall.'

The green girl scowled. '_Why_?' she asked in exasperation. Galinda giggled again. 'Because it's funny.'

Elphaba rolled her eyes and licked the wall. 'Your turn. Truth or dare?'

'Truth,' Galinda said immediately. Elphaba gave her a look. 'Coward.'

Galinda frowned at her. 'All right, dare then!'

'Lick the floor.'

The blonde's eyes widened. 'But… but it's _dirty_!'

'If I am brave enough to lick the wall, I'm sure you are brave enough to lick the floor,' Elphaba chuckled. Galinda stuck out her tongue. 'Fine, you win. This is silly. Let's play another ga-'

'Goodnight, Galinda.' Elphaba shut off the light and crawled into bed, and Galinda huffed and grumbled softly. 'I'm not through with you yet, Elphaba Thropp. Tomorrow I'm going to give you a makeover and Oz be my witness, you're going to _like _it!'

* * *

'Fifi!' Galinda exulted happily when her boyfriend exited the carriage. She bounced up to him and pecked his cheek. 'I'm so happy to see you again!'

Fiyero smiled, but it seemed a bit forced. 'Yeah. It's nice to see you, too.' His eyes darted around until they fell on Elphaba, standing a reasonable distance behind the blonde with her sister and Boq, and Fiyero smiled a little. She met his gaze for just a clock-tick before looking away, but he noticed the dark red blush creeping up into her cheeks and his smile turned into a grin. Until Galinda started tugging his sleeve, that is.

'Fiyero, dearest,' she said in a whiny voice. 'Are you even listening? I asked if you were coming to the Ozdust with me tonight. Milla's birthday was last week and since we weren't there to celebrate it with her, she's going to throw a late party tonight. She invited me and she told me I could bring whoever I wanted, so…' She looked at him expectantly and his gaze wandered to Elphaba again. 'Are you going?' he asked, indicating Nessarose and Boq as well as Elphaba, but his eyes stayed trained on the green girl.

Nessa and Boq looked at each other hesitantly. 'I'd love to,' Nessa admitted, 'but I'm not sure I feel comfortable about barging in on someone else's party…'

'Oh, that's quite all right,' Galinda waved her away. 'The more people, the more fun! Milla agrees with me on that respect. Come if you like!' She looked at her best friend. 'Elphie?'

The green girl shook her head. 'I'm not much of a party person, Lin. You should know that by now.'

'I'll makeover you,' Galinda offered, and Elphaba gave her a half-hearted smile. 'Why doesn't that make me any less reluctant to go?'

'Aw, come now, Elphie,' the blonde girl begged. She clung to Elphaba's arm. 'You have to help me with Fiyero!' she whispered into her ear in an almost desperate tone of voice. 'Please, Elphie? Please?'

Elphaba sighed irritably, then gave in, as usual. What was it with the bubbly blonde that she could always make her do just about anything? 'Fine, fine. If you insist. I'll come.'

Galinda squealed and hugged her friend. 'Thank you, Elphie!' she whispered quickly before retreating and flashing Fiyero a brilliant grin, lacing her arm through his. 'So, Fifi, dearest, why don't we go and get a drink somewhere?'

Fiyero gently shrugged her of. 'Sorry, G. I'm going to go unpack first. Boq and I will pick you ladies up at eight tonight,' he said with a wink towards Elphaba, who pretended not to notice. Galinda just sighed and watched him go before starting to weep again. 'You see?' she wailed. 'He's not interested in me at all anymore! Why is that? What did I do wrong? Am I not good enough for him? Or am I too pretty, is that it? Doesn't he want people to stare at his girlfriend instead of him?'

'Yeah, I'm sure that's it,' Boq agreed with just the tiniest amount of sarcasm and Nessa whacked his arm. 'Oh, Galinda,' the younger girl said consolingly, 'he'll come around, you'll see. Don't worry!'

Galinda turned to hug Elphaba, still sniffing, but the green girl had crossed her arms in front of her chest and quirked an eyebrow at her roommate. 'I thought you were going to talk to him.'

'Yes, but I…'

'No 'buts', Galinda,' Elphaba told her sternly. 'If you want to know what's bothering him, just ask him.'

Galinda sighed. 'I will. Tonight, at the party. Or afterwards. Or perhaps tomorrow. Or do you think I should wait a few days? Perhaps-'

'Tonight, Galinda,' Elphaba said in a voice that didn't bear any contradiction, and so the blonde sighed again and nodded reluctantly. 'Fine. I'll ask him tonight.'

* * *

Elphaba wasn't sure what in Oz had gotten into her to make her agree to not only go to the party, but to let Galinda give her a makeover as well. The blonde was having the time of her life while Elphaba merely sat there, trying not to squirm and whine as Galinda brushed her hair and worked on it using several hair ribbons, combs and hairpins, before moving on to the green girl's face. She curled her eyelashes and applied mascara to them, attacked her chocolate brown eyes with some dark eye liner and smeared some shiny dark read lip gloss on Elphaba's lips, meanwhile scattering sprinkles everywhere around the room – and on Elphaba. 'Hold still!' the blonde chirped as she bounced off the bed and into her giant walk-in closet. She rummaged around for a moment before poking her head out. 'Get out of that dress.'

Elphaba obeyed, knowing that protesting won't do her any good – she learned that from experience – and took off her dress. Galinda nodded approvingly. 'Now close your eyes.'

'Lin…'

'Do it!' Galinda said sternly, and Elphaba rolled her eyes, then closed them. She could hear Galinda move throughout the room. 'Hands up.' She did and felt how Galinda slid the dress over her, adjusting it here and there. She then felt how her friend put several pieces of jewellery on her – a necklace, a bracelet and a pair of earrings. Elphaba had never seen the use of earrings, but after weeks of whining and pleading, Galinda had persuaded her into letting her roommate pierce her ears. She usually still didn't wear any earrings, though, much to Galinda's dismay, but now, apparently, she would have to. She could hear Galinda squeal before she said, 'All right, Elphie, open your eyes.'

She did and stared at her reflection for a few moments, studying it.

The dress she was wearing was dark blue with patterns in white and different shades of lighter blue – sky blue and sea blue and ice blue. It had several spaghetti straps criss-crossing over her shoulders and a heart-shaped neckline, with the soft fabric hugging her body just a bit too tight. From the waist down, it became wider and it reached just to her knees. A pair of Galinda's favourite ice blue heels finished the picture, along with the silver jewellery the blonde had put on her.

Galinda was standing next to her, hands clasped together, face lit up in anticipation of her roommate's reaction. 'Well? What do you think?' she prodded when the green girl didn't say anything. 'You look beautiful, don't you think? I think you look beautiful.'

Elphaba scowled at her. 'I'm green, Lin. I could never look beautiful.' Then she looked back at her mirror image and her face softened. 'But I think this is as close to it as I'll ever be.'

Galinda squealed with giddiness and hugged her friend. 'I take that as a 'yes, I look beautiful, thank you so much, Galinda, you're the best friend ever' since I know you mean it like that but you being you, you would never tell me that,' she declared, talking so fast she needed to take a breath afterwards. 'Now I'm going to get ready myself. Just give me a clock-tick.'

A clock-tick – a two-hour lasting clock-tick – later, Galinda emerged again in a white-and-silver dress with several tulle layers and a halter top. She looked amazing in it and the silver heels she was wearing added several inches to her limited height, but even then she measured about half a head smaller than Elphaba on her bare feet. She didn't really mind, though. At least no boy would ever be smaller than her. Pfannee had dated a boy smaller than her once, but she had dumped him after it became clear that they simply looked _horrendible_ together.

'So, you ready?' Galinda asked, bouncing up and down as she once again checked her hair in the mirror. 'Fiyero and Boq could be here any minute now!'

As if that was their cue, there was a knock on the door and Galinda bounced over to it, opening it and flashing the boys a radiant smile. 'Hi! Let me get my purse and we're ready to go!' She pecked Fiyero's cheek, then hopped off into the room again. Boq poked his head in and grinned at Elphaba. 'Wow. You look nice tonight.'

She blushed slightly. 'Thanks. You, too.' She looked past Boq and smiled at her sister, who was sitting behind the Munchkin boy in her chair. 'You look beautiful, Nessa.'

'Thank you,' the girl said, returning her sister's smile. Fiyero, in the meantime, was just staring at her, to the point where Boq had to shove his elbow in the prince's rib cage. 'Dude. You're being rude.'

'I- I'm sorry,' Fiyero stammered, making a painful face as he rubbed his sore rib cage. 'You're just… um… You look really beautiful tonight, Elphaba.'

Her blush deepened, but she was saved by Galinda, who came bouncing back and beamed at him. 'She does, doesn't she? I gave her a makeover. I think she looks amaaaazing! Elphie, you're probably going to have guys swooning over you all evening!' she predicted, not noticing the way Fiyero's face darkened at that. She stuck her arm through Fiyero's and smiled up at him. 'Come on, Fifi dearest. Let's go have some fun!'

Fiyero looked over his shoulder and mouthed 'help!' to Boq, who merely grinned at him and stuck up his thumb in reply. Nessa caught this and looked first at the retreating couple, then at Boq, frowning. 'What was that?'

'Nothing, Nessa,' he said, but she pressed on. 'Why did he do that? Does he not like Galinda anymore?'

Boq's face flushed. 'No, no… Um… Nessa, I want to tell you, I do, but Fiyero told me this in confidence and I really don't feel comfortable discussing it with-'

Before he could finish, Elphaba had lunged forward and was pressing him against the wall. He struggled, but she was taller than he was – especially in those heels – and stronger, too, so it was pointless. 'Spit it out, Boq,' she hissed warningly. 'Galinda is my best friend and if Fiyero is going to hurt her, I want to know.'

'All right, all right!' Boq yelled. 'I give in!' She let him go and he rubbed his painful shoulder, glaring at her. Then he sighed. 'Fiyero… He… um… He says he doesn't love Galinda anymore.'

Nessa held her breath. 'Oh, the poor girl.' Elphaba was baffled. 'What? Why not? They're perfect together, aren't they? He can't break up with her – she wants to marry him!' she protested. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Was this because of that Lion Cub moment? Things between Fiyero and Galinda had started to go down from there, and she couldn't shake the feeling that it was all her fault.

Boq shrugged. 'I don't know, Elphaba. He says he thought so at first, too, that they were perfect together, but he's been thinking lately and though he still thinks she's a lovely girl and he doesn't want to hurt her, he's not in love with her anymore. That's all he told me.'

Nessa sighed. 'Oh, poor Galinda… I hope she takes it well.'

'She's not going to take anything,' declared Elphaba, her famous temper flaring up once again. 'Just because he's a brainless idiot, doesn't mean I'm going to let him break Galinda's heart. They're perfect together, they are, and I'm going to make him see that.' She couldn't let him do this. No matter what the reason was, Galinda deserved him and she would _not _let him break up with her. She stalked off in the direction of the OzDust Ballroom, fuming silently.

Boq and Nessa, who stayed behind, looked at each other tentatively. 'Well,' Boq said slowly, breaking the silence. He cleared his throat. 'This is going to be interesting.'


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you all so much for reviewing!**

**Um... just to prevent you from getting murderous at the mere mention of their names: Avaric is an ass, but he isn't nearly as bad as he was in Yero my Hero, and Frex is still cold towards Elphaba and sort of treats her like a servant, but he's not abusive and he does care. A little. So... just so you know ^_^.**

* * *

The wailing sound that reached her ears when she entered the hallway of the OzDust Ballroom told her more than she needed to know.

She found her blonde friend in the ladies' room, sitting on the floor with her dress crumpled, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief – to no avail, because she was still crying and the tears just kept falling. Elphaba kneeled down next to her friend and drew her in a hug. 'Oh, Galinda…'

'He broke up with me!' the blonde sniffed. 'I talked to him, asked him why he was acting so strange lately, and then he said… he said he did like me, a lot, but not like _that _anymore, and he wanted to be just friends! No more than friends! How could he say that? We're perfect together, doesn't he see that? We were going to be marrieeeeeeed…' Her last word ended in a long wail as she buried her face in Elphaba shoulder and cried. Elphaba just tried to soothe her friend, rubbing her back and telling her that it would be okay, but inwardly, she was fuming with rage. How dare he do this to her friend! She was going to have a nice long talk with him later that night, that much was certain.

Deep down inside, she knew that it wasn't Fiyero she was angry at. He had every right to break up with Galinda, after all, and that wasn't any of her business at all. The truth was that she was incredibly angry with herself. Because she was pretty sure it had something to do with her that Fiyero had now broken up with Galinda, and she couldn't stand that. She didn't want to hurt her best friend. She couldn't very well yell at herself, however, so she decided Fiyero would make as good a target as any.

After calming down Galinda and leaving the blonde with Boq, Nessa, Shenshen and Pfannee to fuss over her, she went to find Fiyero. As soon as she entered the main room of the building, where the dance was being held, most people present stopped dancing and started staring. She completely ignored them, however – she was used to it, after all – and stomped right towards where Fiyero was standing. He looked up and his face lit up as he saw her. Avaric, one of Fiyero's extremely annoying and obnoxious friends, whistled. 'Looking _hot _tonight, Artichoke! Care to come to my room and keep my bed warm?' He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, but Elphaba merely shot him a glare. 'Shut up, Avaric.' Then she turned to face Fiyero. 'You and I need to talk.'

'Care for a dance?' Fiyero asked. 'We can talk while dancing.'

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. 'No!' she spat at him. 'Not until you go and apologise to Galinda!'

His face fell a little. 'Oh. So you've heard.'

'_Everyone_ has heard, dude,' Avaric told the prince. Fiyero seemed baffled for a moment, then shook his head. 'Well, I'm sorry, Elphaba. I didn't want to hurt her, I swear I didn't. But it felt like I was playing around with her, you know, using her, and she doesn't deserve that. She's a wonderful girl and she deserves someone that truly loves her, and I… I just couldn't be that someone for her.'

Elphaba didn't give in one inch. 'You had no right, Tiggular. No right at all. Get over yourself and make up to her or you're going to find yourself missing certain body parts.' Her voice was dangerously low and he knew better than to argue with her right now, so he sighed and pushed himself away from the wall. 'Fine. I'll talk to her. But I'm not making any promises here.'

Elphaba nodded curtly. 'Good enough.'

Fiyero made his way towards the door and meanwhile, another boy came up and carefully tapped her shoulder. 'Miss Elphaba?'

She whirled around and pretty much snarled, 'What?'

The boy looked slightly taken aback. 'Um… You… You look pretty tonight.' She glared at him and he gulped. 'I was just wondering if you would… dance with me,' he stammered. She kept on glaring at him until he lost the courage and made his way back to his friends. Avaric let out a low whistle. 'Elphaba Thropp, the Ice Queen of Shiz. Bummer you didn't actually turn him into an ice sculpture or something. That would've been nice.'

Now her glare was directed at him. 'Did _you _fancy being an ice sculpture, Avaric?' she asked innocently. 'Because I'm sure I can think of a spell Morrible taught me…'

He wiggled his eyebrows again. 'An ice queen and fiery at the same time. Deadly combination. How about I try and melt you down with my heat and passion, eh?' He pursed his lips and half-closed his eyes in a way that was probably supposed to look seductive, but frankly just looked plain ridiculous. His friends all laughed at him and Elphaba smirked. 'Dream on. Good day to you, Master Avaric.' With that, she disappeared from his view.

She wasn't sure what to do next. Galinda was still out in the hallway, probably talking to Fiyero right now; Nessa and Boq were dancing together and although she _knew _more people around here, there was no one in particular she wanted to hang out with. Being called an artichoke wasn't the best way to start a friendship and Elphaba Thropp was not the most forgiving person in the world.

She wandered outside instead, shivering slightly in the crisp evening air. She walked towards the park across from the Ballroom and sat down on a bench, staring at the beautiful night sky. It was amazing how peaceful and quiet this place was in comparison to the hot, crowded and noisy Ballroom. She still couldn't comprehend why people would choose parties like that over… well, over anything, really. Oh, how she wished she could just disappear back to her dorm to study or read right now… but Galinda would be looking for her.

With a sigh, she got up from the bench, ignoring her freezing behind, and made her way back into the OzDust Ballroom. She was attacked by Galinda as soon as she set foot in the hallway. 'Elphie! Oh, Elphie, thank you so much!'

'For what, Lin?' Elphaba asked, patting the blonde's back. Galinda beamed at her. 'For talking to Fiyero. We talked, Elphie and we made up! Fiyero and I are back together!'

Elphaba felt a wave of relief. At least her actions hadn't hurt Galinda – that was about all she cared about. 'That's wonderful, Galinda. Congratulotions.'

'Thank you!' The blonde hugged her again. 'You're bestest friend _ever_, Elphie! Now come on, let's dance – don't worry, I'll show you how!'

* * *

'Elphaba?'

The green girl looked up from her book to find Fiyero looking down at her. She sighed and put her book away. 'Yes, Fiyero?'

He shifted around a bit uncomfortably. 'Um… I'm not really sure how to ask you this… in fact, I really, _really _don't want to ask you this, but… um… Morrible told me I'm going to be… you know… expelled… if I don't start getting better grades.'

She merely looked smugly at him. 'I could have told you that much. I don't think I've _ever_ seen you in class.'

'I do go to class!' he said, looking slightly offended. 'Remember that day with the Lion Cub? I went to class then, or I would never have…' Elphaba's face had fallen and she was avoiding his gaze, and his own voice trailed away, as he wasn't sure how to end that sentence. 'Well, anyway,' he continued, trying to get past the awkward moment, 'I need someone to tutor me. And since you're the best student in, well, in all of Shiz, really…'

She picked up a book again and said flatly, 'I don't think that would be a good idea.' Frankly, her heart started pounding at the mere idea of spending time alone with him. It would not be good. The way it was now, with her avoiding him as much as possible and being polite, but cool to him when she couldn't avoid him, was good. It worked perfectly. There was no danger of anything happening. But when she would have to spend time with him? _Alone _with him? It would be painful. At the very least. In fact, it would just be plain torture – sitting there, so close to him, no one else around, and yet she wouldn't get to… she wasn't even sure what it was she wanted to do. She didn't know how she felt about him and it scared her. She was confused. Utterly confused. And if there was one thing Elphaba Thropp did not like, it was being confused.

So avoiding the source of her confusion seemed to be her most successful strategy.

'Please?' Fiyero said in an almost desperate tone of voice. 'I don't want to be kicked out of school again, I really don't.'

'And why is that, Master Tiggular?' she said in a bored tone of voice, flipping through the pages of her book. 'You never seemed to have a problem with being kicked out of school before.'

'That was before I met you…' Her head shot up, but he quickly added, '…guys. You know, we've all become good friends in the past half year, Boq and Nessa and Galinda and you and me… and I don't want to miss Galinda, of course,' he added as an afterthought. 'I mean, she's my girlfriend.'

She narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't say anything, and so he sighed. 'Plus, my mother would kill me if I got expelled again,' he mumbled. 'I've disappointed her enough already the way it is now. I don't want to disappoint her again.'

Now it was her turn to sigh – she knew, after all, what it was like to disappoint a parent. Over and over again. And if she could help him set that right by making him pass his exams…

'Elphaba, please?' he begged. 'Come on, don't make me go down on my knees – this is humiliating enough as it is,' he joked, and she glared at him. 'Fine, then,' she grumbled reluctantly. 'I'll tutor you. But we're going to do this on _my _terms, understood?' He nodded enthusiastically. 'Thank you, Elphie!'

'Condition number one,' she said, narrowing her eyes again. 'If you call me 'Elphie' one more time, you're going to lose certain tools that represent your manhood.'

He swallowed. 'Understood.'

She gave him a deceivingly innocent smile. 'Good.' She packed her things and slung her bag over her shoulder. 'I'll meet you in the library tomorrow morning at eight sharp, before History class. Don't be late.' With that, she walked away, pretending not to see the shocked look on his face. 'Eight? In the morning?' she heard him ask her in a baffled tone of voice.

'Don't be late!' she repeated, calling over her shoulder cheerfully.

* * *

'Hey, Elphie?' Galinda asked that night when they were both in their dorm room. The blonde was lying on her stomach on her bed, already wearing her pink nightgown, as she flipped through a magazine. Elphaba was sitting at the vanity, brushing her long, raven hair. 'Yeah?'

'Did you notice that I'm always so much calmer when I'm with you than when I'm not?'

Elphaba stifled a laugh. 'You? Calm?'

Galinda stuck out her tongue. '_Yes_! Believe it or not, I'm way more giddy and jumpy with Shenshen and Milla and Pfannee than I am with you. Want to know why?'

'I don't know. Do I?'

'_Elphie_…'

The green girl sighed and continued brushing her hair. 'Fine. Tell me.'

'I read it in a magazine.' Galinda sat up and looked at her roommate with a broad smile on her face. 'It's because you're green.'

'You're calmer around me because I'm green?' Elphaba was actually starting to wonder whether the blonde girl might have finally lost her mind. Perhaps all the make-up had seeped through her skin into her brain and turned the few brain cells she had to mush.

'Yes!' Galinda nodded frantically and fell down flat on her stomach again, reaching for one of her magazines, then waving it around in the air. 'Because green is the colour of nature, and it's a very calming colour, which is good, because I'm usually not a very calm person. I am with you, though. Don't you see how calm I am?'

Elphaba quirked an eyebrow at her, trying her hardest not to grin, until Galinda tossed the magazine in a corner of the room. 'Ugh. All right, you win. That magazine sucks. I'm not calm.'

'No, you're not,' Elphaba agreed, smirking slightly, turning her attention back to her mirror image as she fumbled with a few particularly tangled strands of hair. 'But that's okay, Lin. You wouldn't be you if it weren't for your annoying, bouncy, bubbly giddiness.'

'Aw, Elphie, thank you!' the blonde squeaked. 'That's so swee- wait, did you say 'annoying'?'

'I don't know,' Elphaba said innocently. 'Did I?'

Galinda tossed a pillow in her roommate's direction, but she was laughing. 'You're one wicked girl, Elphie.'

'Why, thank you,' the green girl smirked. They were both silent for a while, Elphaba brushing her hair, Galinda lost in thought. 'Are you really going to tutor Fiyero, Elphie?' the blonde broke the silence after a while. 'He told me that this afternoon.' Galinda swung her legs back and forth in the air and looked expectantly at the green girl sitting at the vanity.

'Yes,' replied Elphaba simply. She half-turned to look at her roommate. 'If that's all right with you, of course.'

Galinda waved her away. 'Oh, don't be silly, Elphie! I want him to pass, of course, and who's better to tutor him than you? Besides, you're practically the only girl I can trust to be around him and not try to steal him from me. You know, all the girls are constantly swooning about him, but you're not. I can trust him with you. And I trust you as well in that I'm sure you can make him study and pass his exams – I know how persuasive you can be,' she giggled, but Elphaba had frozen. She couldn't do this. How could she do this? Galinda believed her roommate to be the only one on campus not in love with Fiyero, but Elphaba knew better – or thought she did, anyway. Somehow, the scandalacious Winkie Prince had managed to make even the cold and unmoved Artichoke fall for him. And fallen she had. Hard. But she couldn't tell her friend, it would break Galinda's heart. Could she do this? What if she couldn't control herself? What if she would do something stupid once she was alone with Fiyero? She didn't want to hurt her friend, she didn't want to betray her trust…

'Elphie?' Galinda's concerned voice snapped her back to reality. 'Are you okay?'

Elphaba shook her head in an attempt to clear it. 'Yeah, fine. Just a bit tired, I guess.' She put the hairbrush on the vanity and walked over to her bed. 'I'm going to sleep.'

'All right,' Galinda said sympathetically. 'Sleep well, Elphie. Sweet dreams.'

'Goodnight, Galinda.'

She stared at the ceiling in the dark for another two hours before she finally managed to fall asleep.

* * *

'Can we stop now?' Fiyero whined. 'My brain has gotten mushy from all this studying.'

Elphaba looked at him in exasperation, flinging her hands in the air. 'We've been studying for _one hour_!'

'It felt like a week to me,' he protested, but she would have none of it. She pointed one slim, green finger at his textbook. 'Read. And don't talk or move until you've finished at least this chapter.'

He muttered something unintelligible, but undoubtedly offensive, under his breath and pulled the book back towards him. Elphaba, who was reading her own textbook and taking notes in the process, looked at him from the corners of her eyes every few minutes. He appeared to be reading for real now, which was a good thing. She knew he was smart. He wasn't nearly as stupid as he pretended to be. He just had the wrong attitude.

And the attention span of a shrimp.

_Do shrimps have short attention spans_? Elphaba wondered suddenly. _Perhaps I should look that up sometime._

She heard him sigh, but she didn't respond, afraid that if she did, he would see it as an invitation to be distracted from his work again. After a few minutes, she peeked at him through her eyelashes again, only this time, she actually took the time to study him.

It wasn't hard to see why every girl on campus had been swooning over him the moment he had set foot in Shiz University, even despite his reputation and his status as Vinkun royalty. Even Elphaba, who was about as uneducated in the area of boys as they came, could see that he was handsome. He had sandy-coloured hair that always seemed to fall into place just perfectly (even though Galinda had once confided in her that he used hair gel every day to model it). His eyes were a bright azure blue with long, thick eyelashes surrounding them. His nose was straight, his lips were full, his chin and jaw line were prominent, but not overly so. And he was muscular. One warm day last fall they had all gone swimming at the Shiz lake – well, everyone had gone swimming and Elphaba had been sitting by the water side with a book – and a few girls had actually fainted when Fiyero had taken his shirt off. Elphaba found that particular reaction a bit over the top, but she had to admit that Fiyero without his shirt on wasn't too horrendible a view.

She tried to work out their relationship. It was strange. At first, she had despised him, and he had made fun of her skin colour – naturally. Then they had became some sort of distant friends, because, well, he was dating her roommate and that meant having to hang out a lot together. They had formed a friendly group with Boq and Nessa, and the five of them had been fine until that Lion Cub incident. After that, things between Fiyero and Elphaba had become extremely awkward and Fiyero had started to act strangely towards Galinda… and that's when things had started to fall apart.

She sighed. She wished sometimes that that Lion Cub day had never happened. Everything would still be normal now if it hadn't. Fiyero and Galinda would be fine. She herself and Fiyero would still have been friends – sort of, anyway. And she wouldn't be so confused about her feelings about him.

'Elphaba?' she suddenly heard Fiyero ask in an amused tone of voice and that snapped her out of her thoughts. There was a huge, smug grin on his face. 'Were you staring at me?'

She was blushing furiously, cursing herself for being so obvious, but pretended to still be engrossed in her book. 'Hm? What?'

His grin broadened. 'Don't play stupid. I saw you.'

'I honestly have no idea what you're talking about,' she replied flatly, desperately hoping that he would not be able to hear her heart pounding. 'Have you finished the chapter yet?'

He dropped the subject. 'Yes,' he answered instead, to her utter surprise, and she looked up in disbelief. 'Really?'

He flashed her a lopsided grin. 'Yeah. So what's next, Miss Tutor?'

She rolled her eyes at him. 'Read the next chapter.'

His face fell. 'Really?'

'Or I can question you about the chapter you've just read and see if you actually remembered anything of it.'

He sighed. 'Can't we do something else now? I don't know… talk? Go to the Shiz Café? Hang out with Boq and Nessa and Galinda? Do _anything _but studying?'

She glared at him. 'No wonder you're on the verge of being kicked out of school, with an attitude like that.'

He leaned back in his chair comfortably, putting his hands behind his head and stretching out lazily. 'Well, life's more painless for the brainless.'

'Don't you quote your stupid Dancing Through Life song to me,' she snapped. 'It's ridiculous. And you're not brainless – you just pretend to be.'

'Right,' he agreed, smirking. 'Not _really_ stupid.'

'No. Not _really_. Although I might change my mind about that if you keep this up.' She started flipping through her book again with rigid, angry gestures, and he studied her for a moment. 'You know, you really did look beautiful the other night at the OzDust. You should wear make-up more often. And you should let your hair down.'

She flushed. 'Don't you use that word around me again.'

'Which word?' he teased her. 'Make-up? OzDust? Hair? I bet you find all those words repulsive.'

'I do,' she retorted, 'but the word I was aiming for was,' she almost choked on it, '_beautiful_.'

'You say that as if it's a bad thing.'

'It is when someone says it about me. Because it means they're either blind, or they're making fun of me. The words 'Elphaba' and 'beautiful' don't go together in one sentence unless the words 'is anything but' stand between them.'

'Elphaba is anything but ugly, in fact, she is very beautiful.'

She glared at him and he held up his hands in self-defence, stifling a laugh. 'That one met your conditions, didn't it? It was a sentence with both 'Elphaba' and 'beautiful' in it, _and _with 'is anything but' in between them-'

'Read the stupid book!' she snapped, and he raised his eyebrows in mock disapproval. 'My, my. I would never have guessed that Elphaba Thropp would ever call a book _stupid_.'

She got up abruptly, slamming her book shut. 'You know what? I've had it with you, Mr. Dancing-Through-Life. I _know _there's someone with brains underneath that incredibly stupid and idiotic façade, but apparently, he's not coming out anytime soon. So, if you're insisting on being an annoying jerk all the time, you can make sure you pass those exams yourself, because I _refuse _to help you until you're going to act like a decent human being!' With that, she practically stomped out of the library, leaving Fiyero gaping after her with his mouth wide open.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: For those of you wondering, the arranged marriage part that is mentioned in the summary will start the next chapter :).**

* * *

There was a faint knock on the door. 'I'll get it!' Galinda sang before jumping up and opening the door just a crack, swinging it open entirely when she saw who it was. 'Fifi!' she exclaimed with a radiating smile. 'What are you doing here?'

Elphaba pretended to be engrossed in her book, but meanwhile listened to the conversation. 'I, um…' She risked a glance in their direction and saw the Fiyero was looking incredibly uncomfortable, rubbing his neck with one hand. 'I need to talk to Elphaba.'

'Yes, she told me you weren't exactly a gentleman when she was tutoring you,' Galinda told him sternly. 'You have to _try_, Fifi dearest, or you'll never pass and you know I can't miss you! She's right over there, so go ahead and apologise to her. And make it sound like you mean it.'

Elphaba heard footsteps approaching her, but she didn't look up. 'Elphaba?' he asked tentatively.

Now she did look up, one eyebrow raised. 'What?'

He was studying his feet, avoiding her gaze. 'I'msorryforbeingsuchanass,' he mumbled to his feet.

Elphaba raised her other eyebrow. 'I didn't quite catch that.'

He sighed. 'I'm sorry,' he repeated, still looking down, and Elphaba exchanged an amused glance with Galinda. 'Fiyero, if there's something you have to say to me, say it to my face. The floor doesn't care much for your apologies, you know. And neither do your own feet.'

He sighed again, irritably this time. 'I'm sorry.'

'You're what?' She was pushing it, she knew, but she was having fun. It was amusing to see him squirm like this.

He looked down at his feet again. 'I'msorryandyouwereright.'

'For Oz's sake, Fifi, stop mumbling!' Galinda burst out. 'Is this so hard for you? Just look her in the face and apologise! It's only healthy to admit that you were wrong about something every now and then!'

Yet another sigh. 'You're really going to make me do this?'

'Yes,' Galinda and Elphaba said at the same time. The blonde girl giggled, the green girl arched one of her eyebrows again. 'Well? I'm waiting.'

'I said I was sorry!'

'I didn't hear you say that.' Elphaba shook her head and looked at Galinda, cocking her head slightly to the side. 'Did you hear him say he was sorry?'

'Nope,' agreed Galinda cheerfully. The raven-haired witch looked back at the Vinkun Prince. 'Still waiting.'

'I'M SORRY!' he blurted out. 'Was that clear enough? I'm sorry and you were right, I was a jerk, and I really want you to tutor me again because otherwise I'll fail, so I'm sorry!'

Elphaba caught Galinda's gaze. 'Shall I release him from his suffering?'

'Oh, Elphie,' the blonde giggled. 'You're so mean.'

'Fine, then,' sighed Elphaba, meeting Fiyero's gaze again. 'Apology accepted. I'll continue tutoring you. But one more jerky remark and we're done. Got it?'

'Got it,' he said, looking relieved. 'Thanks, Elphaba.' He looked back at Galinda. 'Care to go out for a drink?'

The blonde squealed. 'Of course, Fifi!' She winked at her roommate before leaving the dorm, the door closing with a soft 'click' behind them. Elphaba smiled and picked up her book again. Fiyero and Galinda had grown closer together again in the past weeks since the dance, and Elphaba was glad about that. It made her feel less guilty for causing their short breakup in the first place – not that she had actually consciously done something to break them up, of course, but she was still certain that it _had_, somehow, been her fault. It was good to see them back together. It was even better to see Galinda happy again.

She shook her head and returned to her book.

* * *

Several months passed by slowly, months in which Elphaba kept on tutoring Fiyero, but nothing more. She was surprised at her own ability to detach from her feelings and focus on the work they had to do; she got distracted by him every now and then, but she managed fairly well not to let him know, and he actually picked up what she was telling him. For his next Politics test, he even got a B, at which he swept her off her feet and spun her around – a rare moment in which she almost lost it, it felt so amazing. 'Thank you, Elphaba!' he had exulted and he had actually kissed her cheek. 'I could have never done that without you. I might get through this year after all!'

She was on her way to her Life Sciences class one day, however, a few weeks prior to summer break, when she heard Galinda's angry, high-pitched voice, coming from the hallway to her right. 'What is _wrong _with you, anyway? You're not treating me like your girlfriend! You keep on ignoring me and the only people you ever hang out with lately are that dumbass Avaric and his stupid friends! Am I not good enough for you anymore? Is that it? Or is there someone else?'

Elphaba moved a little bit closer and saw Fiyero standing across from the blonde, looking a bit defeated. She could see him sigh. 'Galinda… Of course you're good enough. You're perfect.'

'Then _why are you ignoring me_?' the blonde screeched, stomping her foot. She looked ready to cry and Fiyero didn't look too happy, either. Elphaba decided to just be on her way and ask Galinda about it later – this wasn't any of her business and she didn't want to eavesdrop on what clearly was supposed to be a private conversation. She walked along, making sure they wouldn't see her, and slipped into the classroom.

Fiyero and Galinda, however, weren't done by far.

'Linny.' Fiyero took both her hands and took a deep breath. 'You're perfect… and I always thought I was, too, but I'm not.'

'You're perfect to me!' Galinda protested, but the prince held up one hand to silence her. 'Galinda, I'm so very sorry, but… I can't do this anymore. I don't want to lie to you – I'm not in love with you anymore.'

Galinda was panting. 'You're breaking up with me?'

He cringed. 'Yes.'

She shrieked, 'Why? Why, Fifi? What have I done wrong?' She started crying then, and Fiyero felt like a total jerk. 'Linny, Galinda, you haven't done anything wrong! It's my own fault! I'm just,' he winced even further, 'I'm kind of in love with someone else.'

Now she was nearly hyperventilating. 'You've been cheating on me?!'

'No!' he hastened to explain. 'No, it wasn't like that! Nothing happened! Actually, I'm quite sure _she _doesn't even like _me_…'

'_Everyone _likes you,' Galinda sneered. 'Every single girl on campus would drool all over you if you declared your love for her – well, except perhaps for…' Her eyes widened. 'Nooooo,' she breathed. 'You're in love with _Elphaba_?!'

He panicked. 'Don't tell her! Please!'

'I don't believe you!' she screeched. 'You're in love with my best friend? You're breaking up with me because you're in love with my _best friend_ and now you're asking me not to tell her? Oz, you're an even bigger jerk than I thought you were!' She stood there, yelling in his face, looking pretty impressive for a petit pink powder puff that didn't even reach his shoulders. She became even more impressive when she slapped him across the face. Apparently, she was stronger than she looked – his cheek stung and he was sure he would have a red mark there for at least another few days. 'Galinda, I'm sor-'

'Shut up!' she yelled, then stomped off towards her dorm. She ran to her room, slammed the door shut behind her and flung herself onto her bed. Then, she buried her face in a pile of pillows and cried.

* * *

Elphaba was looking at her friend incredulously. 'You and Fiyero broke up?!'

'Yes,' the blonde replied flatly. She was lying on her stomach on the bed, her face turned to the side, away from Elphie. She couldn't bear to look at her roommate right now. She knew that Elphaba really couldn't help it that Fiyero was in love with her and not with Galinda – hell, the green girl didn't even _know_. But just the mere thought of her boyfriend – ex-boyfriend – and her best friend together made the blonde sick and she really didn't want to talk to Elphaba right now.

'But… but why?' Elphaba asked, sounding surprised. 'You two were doing great again after the dance at the OzDust… I thought everything was going to be all right between the two of you.'

'So did I.'

'Haven't you noticed anything, then?' Elphaba pressed on. The blonde was behaving very un-Galinda-like and she was worried. Was she devastated because of the breakup? Usually when Galinda Upland was devastated, she would let the whole world know – she'd cry and wail and make sure everyone was fussing over her, because that was what she loved. This apathetic Galinda was new to her and she didn't like it – she couldn't shake the feeling that something else was going on besides the breakup, only she didn't have the faintest clue what that something else could be.

Galinda sighed and turned to lie on her back, facing the ceiling. 'Yes. He was being distant and moodified again, and he ignored me. I knew something was going on, but I never thought…' Her voice trailed off and she sighed again; then she got underneath the blankets and turned her back towards Elphaba. 'I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight, Elphie.'

'Night, Galinda,' the raven-haired girl said, feeling confused. She turned off her own light and went to lie down as well, but she promised to herself she would talk to – all right, yell at – Fiyero in the morning.

* * *

'What did you do _now_?!'

Fiyero spun around to see Elphaba stalking towards him with large steps, a very deadly shimmer in her dark eyes. He held up his hands. 'You're going to have to be a bit more specific.' He knew exactly what this was about, of course. His breaking up with Galinda. The only question was, how much did she know? Had Galinda told her the reason for their breakup? Oz, he hoped not.

She stabbed his chest with her index finger. 'You know damn well what I'm talking about, Tiggular! Now stop playing stupid and go make up with Galinda!'

He sighed. 'I don't want to make up with Galinda. Well,' he hastened to explain when she glared dangerously at him, 'I want to _make up _with Galinda, of course, because I don't want her to be mad with me… but I don't want to get back together with her. We're over.'

Her eyes were blazing and he should probably be afraid, but all he could really think was how magnificent she looked when she was angry, how fierce and, yes, beautiful. How could he not have seen that before? Why had he barely even noticed her before that Lion Cub incident? It had only been then she had opened his eyes. She had seen right through him – she had been the first to do that, ever, and he had been impressed, though terrified. And it had changed him. _She_ had changed him. Sure, he still behaved like a brainless idiot sometimes, but it felt more like an act than ever. Because inside, he was _thinking_. That's right. Fiyero Tiggular was _thinking_. And he kind of liked it, too.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when she stood on her tiptoes, thereby getting almost at eye level with him, and practically yelled into his face, 'You _listen _to me when I'm talking to you! You're going back to Galinda right now or I swear-'

'Do you know why we broke up?' he interrupted her. She was taken aback for a moment by his bluntness, but then her scowl returned. 'I don't care, Fiyero. Go and make it up to her.'

His face had fallen. She hadn't said it right to his face, but he knew what she was trying to say. She knew what the reason was, why he had broken up with Galinda; she knew it was because he loved _her_, Elphaba, and she didn't care. Which could only mean that she felt anything but the same way about him. Elphaba, being Elphaba, would never say that directly – knowing her, she probably didn't want to hurt his feelings too badly. But she made it clear that it was not going to happen. _'I don't care, Fiyero.' _ He couldn't bear those words coming from her mouth. She didn't care about him…

Instead of curling up in a ball and crying, as he really wanted to do right now, he got angry. 'Or what?' he demanded harshly of her. She stared back at him in surprise, not expecting such a fierce reaction, but she composed herself quickly enough. 'You can fill in those blanks yourself,' she hissed at him, 'but do know that whatever you _think _I'll do to you if you keep hurting my best friend will not be half as awful as what I actually have in mind.' With that, she stalked off again.

* * *

The next afternoon, Elphaba met up with Boq and Nessa at the Shiz Café. Galinda was supposed to be there, too, but she hadn't arrived yet, which Elphaba took as an opportunity to talk to her sister for a moment. 'Nessa, do you know why Galinda is ignoring me?'

Nessa looked at her elder sister in surprise. 'She's ignoring you?'

'Well…' Elphaba thought about the blonde's distant behaviour. 'Not _ignoring_, as such, but she's not herself. I know she talks to her other friends – I see her often enough hanging out with Milla, Pfannee and Shenshen… but for some reason, she won't talk to me much. Has she said anything to you? Have I done something wrong?' The mere thought made her stomach clench together. All she wanted was for her friend to be happy, but what if it _was _something that she had done?

Nessa and Boq exchanged a look. 'I'm sure it's not that, Fabala,' Nessarose tried to reassure the green girl. 'You know how awful she feels about the breakup… I'm sure it's just that.'

Elphaba narrowed her eyes at her younger sister. 'She talked to you,' she concluded. It wasn't a question, merely a statement.

Nessa blushed slightly. 'She… might have told me something.'

'What was it?'

The younger girl sighed. 'I can't tell you, Fabala. She told me this in confidence. And it has nothing to do with you – it was about the breakup.' Elphaba still didn't look convinced and Nessa squeezed her hand. 'Don't worry, I'll talk to her and I'll make sure she talks to you again. She's just not herself at the moment, Fabala. Give her time.'

Elphaba nodded and decided to let it slide. For now.

* * *

Exams were approaching and fortunately, Galinda seemed to be getting back to normal. She even apologised for her distant behaviour earlier. 'I'm really sorry, Elphie,' she said that morning for the umpteenth time, in that quivering voice, accompanied by the sad puppy dog eyes and the pout that Galinda Upland was so famous for.

Elphaba sighed, but smiled. 'Oz, Lin, I've already told you five times that it's fine. Really. I understand. You had a shock and you weren't yourself.' She didn't understand, really, but she was glad that Galinda was back to her bubbly old self. 'Have you talked to Fiyero since you two broke up?'

Galinda nodded as she flopped down onto her bed, bouncing up and down a few times. 'Yeah. He came to talk to me a few days ago and we made up – sort of. At least we can be civil again. He offered to try again, you know, the boyfriend-girlfriend thing, but I declined.'

Elphaba gaped at her roommate. 'You what?'

'I declined,' Galinda declared proudly. 'We're through, Elphie. It was nice for as long as it lasted, but I can tell he doesn't really love me, and I want a boy that _really _cares for me. You know, true love, live happily ever after, blah blah – isn't that what every girl wants? I still like him, don't get me wrong, and once we get over this awkwardness, we're going to be friends again… but we're past the 'love' stage. We tried it, it didn't work, so we move on.'

Elphaba eyed her friend suspiciously. 'Are you sure you're okay with this? The Galinda I know would never be this wise.'

The blonde glared at her roommate. 'Shut up, Elphie.' Then she giggled. 'Oh, you're right – this isn't like me, is it? I guess I just, well, I finally realised that Fiyero and I… well, we stopped being perfect together a long time ago. And there are so many other boys around campus that I haven't dated yet! Besides, I know now that I deserve better than someone who doesn't really love me.'

Elphaba smiled. 'Good for you, Lin.'

'It is, isn't it?' Galinda leapt off her bed and into her wardrobe. 'Will you help me pick something to wear to my date tonight?'

Elphaba stared at her blonde friend. 'You're having a date _tonight_?'

'Well, why wait?' Galinda defended herself. She giggled girlishly. 'Oh, he's very handsome, you know – he's from Gillikin, just like me. And a well-respected family, too. Perhaps _he _is the one!'

'Who knows, Lin,' Elphaba said, chuckling softly. 'Who knows.'

The blonde went through her wardrobe. 'I heard you stopped tutoring Fiyero.'

Elphaba folded her legs underneath her. 'I did.'

Galinda poked her head out of her closet for a moment. 'Why?'

'Why?' Elphaba repeated incredulously. 'Because he's an arrogant jerk who dumped my best friend, that's why!'

Galinda poked her head out again, but this time, her expression was different. 'Really? You did that for me?'

'Of course I did that for you.' Elphaba looked at her friend as if she were crazy. 'Lin, you were the first friend, and probably the only _real _friend, I've ever had. I hate to see you hurt. And Fiyero _did _hurt you. I talked to him, of course, tried to convince him that he had to make it up to you…'

Galinda's light blue eyes suddenly filled up with tears and Elphaba cut herself off. 'Lin?' she asked worriedly. 'Are you all right?'

'Oh, Elphie!' the blonde burst out and she ran out of her closet to hug the green girl. 'You're the bestest friend _ever_!' she sniffled in Elphaba's shoulder, and Elphaba herself couldn't help but grin. 'Galinda, you are insane.'

'I know! But so are you – that's why we're such a great team together.' She flashed her roommate a smile. 'No, really. Thank you so much, Elphie… for doing that for me. You really are the bestest friend of all times.'

Elphaba smiled and patted her friend's back. 'You're welcome, Lin.'

'You can tutor Fiyero again, you know,' Galinda said then. 'If you want to.'

'I don't want to.'

Galinda looked horrified. 'But what if he fails?'

'His problem,' Elphaba grumbled. Her friend gave her a pointed look and the green girl sighed. 'He won't fail. I taught him enough so that he can get through his exams by himself – if he studies, that is.'

Galinda sighed. 'Oh, I'll miss you over the summer.'

'I'll miss you, too. But we'll write.'

'Of course we will.'

Elphaba picked up her bag. 'I have Life Sciences now, so I'm going to get going. I'll see you at lunch?'

'Sure,' the blonde agreed cheerfully, diving into her wardrobe once again, as Elphaba left the dorm and went on her way to class. Of course she had the bad luck to run into Fiyero on her way there.

He stopped her. 'Hey.'

She glared at him. 'What do you want?'

'I talked to Galinda,' he told her, clearly confused. 'I tried to make it up to her, but she didn't want to get back together, so now we're just going to be friends. Anyway, I did as you asked, so why are you still mad?'

'Because I shouldn't have had to interfere in the first place,' she snapped. 'You should never have broken up with Galinda at all. And just because _she_'s forgiven you, doesn't mean I have, too. I'm not the most forgiving person and especially not towards people who have hurt someone I care about.'

He knew that, of course – she was incredibly protective of her loved ones, not only of her sister, but now of Galinda as well. It was one of the many qualities he admired in her. He wanted to talk to her, make things right, but he wasn't sure how… He just didn't know what to do anymore. Now that he knew she didn't love him back, it was actually painful to even be around her, to be reminded constantly of what he could never have. On the other hand, he still _wanted _to be near her. It was extremely confusifying.

'Can you at least help me pass my exams?' he begged, but she merely shot him a glance. 'I did what I could. Now it's up to you. If you remember anything at all that I've tried to teach you in the past months, you should be fine.'

'But I want you to help me-' he started, but she interrupted him. 'I gave you your shot, Fiyero. You blew it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a class to attend.'

And so it happened that he watched her walk away from him once again – something that currently happened way too often. _I really should do something about that._


	4. Chapter 4

'So why _did _you and Fiyero break up?' Elphaba asked when she and Galinda were packing in their room on the last day before summer break. Well, Galinda was packing; Elphaba was lying on her stomach on her bed, chin resting in her hands, her already neatly packed suitcase right next to the bed. The blonde, however, was having trouble stuffing all of her expensive and rather elaborate dresses into her bags.

Galinda looked up and wiped a blonde curl from her face. 'I never told you?'

The green girl shook her head. 'You didn't elaborate much when you told me, and I didn't want to push you, but quite frankly, I'm curious.'

Galinda hesitated. It was over between her and Fiyero and she still felt like breaking up had been the right thing to do, but should she tell Elphie about the reason of their breakup? For some selfish reason, she felt she _really _didn't want to. Because if anyone should be telling Elphaba that Fiyero was in love with her, it had to be Fiyero himself, not her. And, yes, she'd admit it: she didn't think she could bear it if Elphie happened to love him back and they would get together. It was still too fresh. It would be painful. She didn't want that.

So she didn't tell her best friend.

'He said he still liked me, a lot, but he didn't love me anymore,' she said instead, which was also true. 'I guess that happens to most couples at some point. We just grew apart, that's all.'

Elphaba, however, was far too perceptive for Galinda's liking. The raven-haired girl frowned slightly. 'That's it?'

'That's it,' Galinda agreed a bit too cheerfully.

Elphaba narrowed her eyes at her roommate. 'Are you sure?'

'Could we stop talking about this?' begged Galinda, and Elphaba, thinking the subject was still too painful for her friend to discuss, dropped it. 'When will you be leaving?'

Galinda looked at the time. 'In about an hour or so.'

Elphaba nodded. 'Perhaps one of us can visit the other somewhere during summer break.'

Galinda squealed and skipped over to hug her friend. 'I'd love that! You can come to the Upper Uplands whenever you like! Or I could come to Munchkinland – meet your father!'

Elphaba made a face. 'Yay, what pleasure.'

Galinda giggled. 'Oh, come on, Elphie, he can't be that bad!' Her roommate just raised her eyebrows at the blonde and Galinda shrugged and stuffed her final dress into her bag, zipping it up. 'There,' said, her face flushed with the effort. 'I'm ready.'

'I'll walk you out,' Elphaba offered, and together, they walked out of the dorm, both carrying a few bags and with two servants, who had come with Galinda's carriage to escort her back home, trailing behind them with even more bags and suitcases, puffing and panting. Galinda didn't even notice them, though, as she dumped the bag she was carrying next to the carriage and pulled Elphaba into a hug. 'We'll write?'

'Promise,' Elphaba said, smiling, and Galinda started to look suspiciously misty-eyed. She turned around when she heard her name and saw Fiyero, Boq and Nessa approaching. The younger girl wheeled herself in front of Galinda and took the blonde's hands in hers. 'You have a wonderful summer, Galinda.'

'Thank you, Nessa,' the girl replied warmly, hugging Nessarose. 'You, too.' She smiled at Boq and he hugged her, too. 'Safe trip.'

'You, too,' Galinda repeated. 'Don't let anything happen to Nessa on the way back.' She knew Boq would be escorting the girls home, because he lived nearby them. 'Or to my Elphie!'

Elphaba folded her arms. 'I can protect myself, Galinda.'

Galinda giggled. 'Oh, I know you can! But still,' she insisted. She then came face to face with Fiyero, who was looking at her a bit uncomfortably. 'So…'

She lifted her eyebrows at him. 'So…?'

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. 'Um… Have a good summer.'

'I will.'

'I'll miss you.'

She glared at him. 'You don't have the right to say that anymore.'

'I know,' he said, deflating a little. 'But I still will.'

She sighed. 'I suppose I'll miss you too. In some twisted kind of way.' She heard Elphaba chuckle behind her and a small smile crept onto her own face as she hugged Fiyero awkwardly. 'Bye.'

She then shared another long hug with Elphaba, elicited from the green girl another promise to write, then finally boarded her carriage. The driver closed it and urged the horses to walk, and Galinda poked her head out of the window and waved until the others could not see her anymore.

* * *

Being back home again was strange and familiar at the same time. Elphaba felt a little out of place at first in the house she had been raised in, especially with the servants and her father all mostly ignoring her while she had had – for her standards, anyway – so many friends back at Shiz. She adjusted quickly, however, and within a week she was back within her usual routine. She cooked, cleaned, washed and cared for Nessa, and it almost appeared as if she had never been gone at all.

She and Galinda wrote frequently, as they had promised each other, and even though Elphaba wasn't all that interested in the parties her friend had attended and the boys she had met, she liked receiving letters from her. She looked forward to them, a piece of Shiz, of the friendship she had found there, to hold on to. She felt a bit lonely at Colwen Grounds, what with her father working all day and Nessa spending almost every spare minute she had with Boq.

One day, however, her younger sister freed her schedule and she and Elphaba ventured out into town to spend some quality time together. 'How are things between you and Boq?' the green girl asked casually, and Nessa's eyes started shining immediately.

'Oh, Fabala, he's wonderful!' she swooned. 'He's a real gentleman, even father thought so – he approved of Boq! I never thought father would approve of anyone dating me at all, but he seems okay with it.'

Elphaba had to smile at that. 'Well, he dotes on you. You're his precious little girl and he wants to protect you,' she said. She had never experienced that herself, of course, but she saw it in the looks her father directed at Nessarose. 'But Boq indeed is a gentleman, and father isn't blind – he probably sees how happy you are. And that's all he wants, really. For you to be happy.'

'He wants that for you, too,' Nessa said quietly, turning in her chair to look at her sister, but Elphaba smiled a bit sadly and changed the subject. 'Father has been acting mysterious for a while, don't you think so? Do you happen to know what's bothering him?'

Nessa shook her head and her face fell a little. 'I noticed it, too. He seems absent-minded all the time… I wish he would tell me, but he keeps saying that there's nothing going on at all.' She shrugged. 'Well, I suppose we'll find out soon enough if there actually is something going on. Speaking of that – what's going on between you and Fiyero?'

Elphaba choked. 'What?'

'Oh, come on,' Nessa said pointedly. 'I'm no fool. For a while, I though the two of you were friends, but then you were starting to act all awkwardly around each other and when he came to see us off when we went home, you were downright cold. Has something happened?'

Elphaba shrugged. 'No. Not really,' she lied. 'I'm just mad at him for hurting Galinda.'

Nessa's face softened. 'But she's forgiven him.'

'Well, I haven't. Galinda is too good a person to stay mad at someone for too long, but that naturally doesn't apply to me, unfortunately for him.' She smirked. 'He had it coming. Perhaps I'll forgive him when we get back at Shiz.'

Nessa shook her head, but didn't comment.

When they returned home, Elphaba installed her sister at the desk in her room to write letters to the friends she had made at Shiz and then went over to her father's study. She knocked quietly. There was some rustling inside and then a gruff voice called, 'Come in.'

She gingerly entered the room and curtsied slightly. 'Father. Nessa and me just returned from town, and I picked up the mail on our way home.' She put the envelopes on his desk and he picked them up and skipped through them, a frown on his face. When he came across a light green envelope with an elaborate stamp, his eyes widened and he shoved the other mail aside. He shooed Elphaba out of the room, looking utterly excited, and she stood there perplexed as he closed the door in her face. She walked away slowly, frantically wondering what was going on with him.

She'd find out soon enough.

* * *

The next day, Nessa wheeled up to her, telling her sister in mild confusion that their father wanted to see her in the living room.

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. 'He wants to see _me_?'

Nessa shook her head helplessly. 'Perhaps we'll finally find out what's going on. I hope so, because he's driving me crazy with his strange behaviour.'

Elphaba smiled slightly and made her way over to the living room.

'Elphaba,' Frex greeted her as soon as she entered. He came straight to the point. 'I need you to go and help your sister pack.'

She looked at him in confusion. 'Pack? Why? Where is she going?'

'We're going to the Vinkus.'

'Are you and Nessa going on a political trip?'

He sighed, trying to hide his mild annoyance, but failing. 'No, Elphaba, we're not going on a political trip. And it won't just be me and Nessa; you'll be coming as well, so make sure to pack your own things, too.'

She was startled – she never was allowed to come with her father and Nessa on trips. 'What exactly do you want me to bring, father?'

He looked at her. 'Why, everything, of course – it's not as if you'll be coming back!'

Now she was gaping at him. 'What? What do you mean?'

'I've arranged a marriage,' Frex announced without so much as blinking an eye. 'We'll be leaving for the Vinkus tomorrow at dawn.'

'You're marrying me off?!' She exploded. She stared at her father wide-eyed, not believing what she was hearing. Was he serious about this? He was just going to marry her off to some stranger living in the Vinkus? What about Nessa? Who would care for her? And what about Shiz? Would she have to drop out? She couldn't! He couldn't do this! 'Father, you can't!'

His eyes were cold and so was his voice when he said, 'Marrying _you _off? Where did you get the preposterous idea that anyone would want to marry _you_, Elphaba? Even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to find a husband for you!'

She ignored that – she knew it to be true, after all – and instead tried to wrap her mind around the fact that it would not be her that was going to get married. 'So, I'm not getting married? Is Nessa, then? Do you want me to go with her to care for her?'

Her father sighed. 'No, Elphaba. I want you both to come with _me_, because _I _am the one who is going to be married.'

Her jaw dropped quite literally. 'What?'

'I've been alone for seventeen years now, Elphaba,' Frex said, suddenly sounding rather tired, as he sat himself down in his favourite armchair. 'I'm not the kind of man that can be alone for the rest of his life. And Nessarose… I've left her without a mother long enough. I suppose you've kind of taken that role in her life, but I was offered this chance and I just couldn't let it pass. It's a strategic marriage as well, for it will certainly amend the bonds between the Vinkus and Munchkinland...' His voice trailed off and he seemed lost in thought for a moment. The woman he was to marry must be among nobility in the Vinkus, Elphaba thought, for their marriage to have such impact on the relations between the two provinces. She hoped that whoever the woman was would be nice to Nessa.

'So we're moving to the Vinkus,' Frex continued. 'Just pack everything you need for the summer now, I'll have the rest of our things brought out later. For the two of you, not much will change. You and Nessa will be returning to Shiz in the fall, only you'll be coming to the Vinkus for winter and summer breaks instead of to Munchkinland.' He looked at her and actually managed a small smile in her direction. 'I think it'll do us all good.'

* * *

'I don't believe this,' Elphaba declared that night when she was helping Nessa to bed. 'He's just going to marry some strange woman from the Vinkus, dragging us there, without even telling us until the day before we leave?'

Nessa laid one calming hand on her sister's arm. 'Easy, Fabala. He only received the letter today, remember? And we need to get to the woman as soon as possible – a marriage requires quite a bit of planning, and he probably wants to get to know her a little bit, too, and for us to know her… You can't blame him.'

Elphaba sighed. 'I guess not. But I still don't like it.'

She put Nessa to bed, finished packing and went to bed, but she couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned and stared at the ceiling all night, until she had to get up again very early in the morning to make breakfast and help Nessa get ready. When everything had been cleaned and taken care of, she hauled their luggage onto the carriage and they all stepped inside. The driver urged the horses forward and the carriage started moving, away from Colwen Grounds, away from her home, and towards a destination unknown.

After a few hours, Frex dozed off, leaving the sisters to talk in hushed voices to one another. 'I hope the woman will be nice to you,' Elphaba said, taking her sister's hand. Nessa smiled at her. 'I'm sure she will.' She thought about it for a moment. 'I think I'll like it there. The place is much bigger than ours, and apparently, the gardens are simply beautiful. It's called Adurin Iir, did you know that? I think it sounds beautiful.'

'It sounds vaguely familiar,' Elphaba mumbled, trying to remember where she had heard the name before, but she couldn't recall it. Then the rest of her sister's words sank in. 'Father told you all that?'

Nessa nodded and the green girl snorted. 'Apparently father has told you more than he has told me. Again.' She knew nothing about the beautiful gardens at wherever it was they were going, nothing but that her mother's grave wouldn't be there. She sighed. That would be the one thing she really would miss about Munchkinland – but then again, she'd only be at Adurin Iir for summer and winter breaks. Perhaps she could even avoid visiting her father then and go to Colwen Grounds instead, alone, or perhaps with Galinda…

Nessa was lost in thought for the next few hours and Elphaba took out a book to read. They spent the night at a hotel and carried on in the morning, reaching the borders of the Vinkus around noon. Elphaba stretched lazily. 'I still don't like this, but I have to admit the Vinkus is beautiful. And I'm kind of curious, too. I just hope it will all work out.'

'I'm sure it will,' Nessa said bubbly. She sighed happily. 'I'm curious, too, but I'm already sure I'll like it. To have a mother again… And I've always wanted an older brother! At least we already know he's nice…'

Elphaba looked at her sister oddly. 'A brother? The woman has children of her own?'

Nessa's face fell as she realised. 'You mean… you don't know? Father hasn't told you?'

Chills crept up Elphaba's spine. This couldn't mean anything good. 'Told me what?'

Nessa peered at her sister's face intently. 'Fabala… Do you even know who this woman is?'

Elphaba shook her head in confusion. 'No. He only said she was from the Vinkus, and I assumed she had to be a woman of influence, but he never told me who it was, exactly.'

Nessarose looked at her sleeping father's face and shook her head a little. 'Oh, Oz, I can't believe he didn't tell you. It explains a lot, though – I'd expected your reaction to be more… um… extreme. I wish he had told you! I really don't want to be the one to tell you, you know. You'll kill me.'

The chills running along Elphaba's spine became even more chilling. 'What is it, Nessa?'

Nessa sighed and gave up. 'Father is marrying the Queen of the Vinkus.'

She watched her sister's face as its expression changed from confusion, to realisation, to utter horror. 'You're not saying…'

'I think it's nice,' said Nessa a bit defensively. 'I like him. I'm just not sure whether things will be going all right with the two of you, since you have been acting so oddly around each other lately… Fabala? You okay?'

It took the raven-haired witch every ounce of self-control in her body not to fly off the handle. She felt like screaming and yelling and yes, Nessa had been right, she also felt a lot like killing someone right now. A very particular someone, preferably. The someone that was about to become her _stepbrother_.

Her magic twitched inside of her and she forced herself to regain control over her emotions and calm down. It worked. A little. At the very least, she finally found herself able to breathe the words. '_Fiyero Tiggular _is going to be my _stepbrother_?!'

Nessa cringed. 'Yes.' She could almost see the steam coming out of her sister's ears. 'Fabala, please… it's not that bad. You have to admit Fiyero is nice. And he told us lots of great stories about his mother, remember? Apparently she's a very nice woman… and at least we won't end up with strangers.'

Elphaba still looked about ready to explode. 'I didn't even know his father was dead!'

'Neither did I,' Nessa said calmly. 'Father told me he passed away only last year, a few months before Lurlinemas break. I guess Fiyero doesn't like to talk about it – I don't even think Galinda knew, since you told me she was so confusified about the short letter he sent her.' Elphaba remembered that. She herself had suggested to Galinda that Fiyero might be struggling with private issues and that could be the reason he was acting strange towards his girlfriend. Apparently, she had been right without even knowing it. She felt a little bad him. He had lost his father, and she had only been mean to him.

'The Vinkuns would have allowed the Queen to rule them by herself,' Nessa continued her explanation. 'They're a rather modern people, apparently, even though they are made out to be savages sometimes. Only the Queen apparently missed having a husband around, and that's why she and father set up this arrangement.'

The raven-haired girl still couldn't quite wrap her mind around this. 'I just don't believe this. I can't live in the same house… no, wait, I guess that should be 'castle'… as Fiyero!'

'Why not?' Nessarose wanted to know.

_Because it's hard enough as it is, being in love with him and seeing him every day at Shiz, knowing he will never be mine. It'll be downright torture to be around him every hour of every day, to live in the same house, with him so close and still so far out of my reach._

'We just… don't really get along at the moment,' Elphaba conceded. That was at least partly true.

Nessa shook her head. 'Just try to get along with him, Fabala. I'm sure everything will be fine.'

Elphaba snorted softly. She didn't really count on it.

* * *

Fiyero was staring at his mother with a wide grin on his face, a grin that spread further with the clock-tick until it nearly tore his face in two. 'You're marrying _Elphaba's father_?'

His mother, Queen Eleonore Tiggular of the Vinkus, looked slightly confused. 'How do you know the name of his daughter? Oh!' she suddenly realised and she looked at her son with slightly different eyes. 'I only realised that just now! Elphaba and Nessarose Thropp… They're part of the friend group you mentioned to hang out with at Shiz!' She smiled at him. 'Well, good for you. At least you'll get along fine with your new sisters.'

His grin became a bit lopsided, giving him a mischievous appearance. 'Oh, yes. We'll get along _just_ fine.'

His mother, being far more perceptive than he sometimes gave her credit for, narrowed her eyes at him. 'Fiyero Tiggular, what is going on?'

His grin widened even further. 'Nothing.'

'Elphaba Thropp…' Suddenly, her eyes widened. 'Oh, no. Yero! She's not the girl you're in love with, is she?'

His shining eyes told her enough. She sighed deeply and shook her head. 'So she's the one, then. The green girl that tutored you and that you left your girlfriend, Galinda for… the girl that doesn't want anything to do with you,' she added drily, causing Fiyero's grin to falter just the tiniest bit. 'Well… I guess I can fix that. Since we're going to live in the same house from tomorrow on,' he added, his confidence returning. His mother buried her face in her hands and moaned. 'Sweet Oz, what have I done? Please, Fiyero, at least promise me you're not going to harass the poor girl. Or stalk her. I know if you set your mind to something, there's no reasoning with you, but I'd like my new stepdaughter to feel comfortable in her new home.'

Her son looked a bit offended. 'What do you think of me, that I'm some kind of rude savage? I may be part Arjiki, but I'm still civilised, _mother_. I'll just… persuade her,' he said a little too innocently, and Lori narrowed her eyes at him again, but Fiyero merely gave her a beaming smile. He kissed her cheek lightly. 'Thanks, Mom. I know it wasn't intended, but you really gave me the greatest present _ever_ with this. There's no way I can ever thank you!' With that, he skipped away through the hallway, leaving the Queen to pray frantically that her son would listen to her and use his brain for once.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hi guys!**

**I'm so, so sorry for not updating any of my stories! (I suppose it wasn't that big a drama, I mean, some authors go _months_ without updating, but since I usually update about every day or so... I guess it still was a long time. For my doing.) Things have been crazy, with this play I'm co-directing and university stuff and it was awful... I can't promise much more updates in the near future, either on this story or on Yero my Hero, but I'll try my best. **

**I hope you like it. Thanks for reviewing and please keep doing so! :) **

* * *

The carriage pulled up in front of the castle.

Frex was the first to come out and he was immediately greeted by the Queen. 'Frexspar,' she said warmly, embracing him. The Governor's face broke into a rare smile. 'Eleonore. It's good to see you again.' The two were old acquaintances, having met several times in formal settings and having known each other for years already.

The Queen waved him away. 'Oh, stop that nonsense. I've asked you from the very beginning to call me Lori. Everyone else does.'

'Well, I'm not everyone else,' Frex said with more charm than Fiyero had thought the cold man capable of as he kissed Lori's hand. He then turned to Fiyero and nodded. 'You must be Prince Fiyero.'

'I am.'

His mother nudges his ribs and Fiyero bowed. Frexspar did the same. 'It's good to finally meet you, Fiyero. My precious daughter has told me that you already know each other from Shiz University – how delightful.'

Fiyero was excited – Elphaba had actually talked about him to her father! Just then, however, Frex ordered in a slightly annoyed tone of voice, 'Elphaba, help your sister out of the carriage!' and Fiyero realised the Governor must have meant Nessarose. He recalled Galinda telling him once that Elphaba and her father did not have the best of relationships, but to what extent exactly, he didn't know.

Two of the Governor's own servants and Elphaba helped the crippled girl into her chair and Elphaba pushed it in front of Queen Eleonore, so that her younger sister could greet her new stepmother.

'You must be Nessarose,' said Lori, smiling at the girl. 'My, aren't you beautiful!'

Frex beamed at the compliment and Nessa blushed. 'Thank you, your Majesty.'

'What did I just say about nonsense!' Lori exclaimed in mock exasperation. 'Call me Lori. Both of you,' she said, looking at Elphaba now and giving her that same warm smile. 'Welcome to the family, Elphaba, Nessarose. I've always wanted to have a daughter… though I of course have no intention to try and replace your own mother,' she added, a shadow briefly crossing her face. 'I know I can never be capable of doing that and I don't wish so, either. I just hope we can get along.'

Nessa smiled at the woman. 'I'm sure we can.'

The Queen smiled back and clapped her hands. 'Now, let's get you all inside! Elphaba, Nessarose, I'll have some servants guide you the way to your rooms. Frex, I'll take you to yours – I think it'd be best if we sleep in separate bedrooms until we are properly wedded, don't you?' Without waiting for his answer, she started walking. Frex' eyes darted towards Nessarose. 'Elphaba,' he said sternly, 'take care of your sister.'

The green girl curtsied. 'Yes, father.'

Frex nodded curtly and followed Lori inside, while a few servants picked up the sisters' luggage and started taking it inside. Elphaba didn't even glance at Fiyero as she took hold of Nessa's chair and pushed the girl through the doors.

She and the servants settled Nessa in a room on the ground floor, making it easier to move around on her own. The girl assured her older sister that she would be fine by herself, that she would just like to unpack and read for a little while, before Elphaba dared to leave the room. Fiyero, seeing his chance, wanted to take her suitcases for her, but she flashed him a quick, annoyed glance before explicitly taking her own suitcases and starting to carry them upstairs.

Fiyero decided he needed to do something about this – this tensed silence was killing him. 'Why are you still mad at me?' he demanded, following her as she hauled her luggage to her room.

She stopped for a moment to look at him. 'Because you hurt my best friend, and according to what Galinda taught me, girl code demands that I don't forgive you for at least another month or so.'

His jaw nearly dropped as she went on her way, but he shook his head and caught up with her in no time. 'Are you serious?'

'I think she was when she told me that.' Elphaba blew a strand of ebony hair from her face. 'And she's my best and only friend, Fiyero. I can't risk doing anything that might hurt or upset her. I'm on her side in this one.'

'She doesn't even know what happens here!'

'That doesn't make any difference at all, Fiyero.' She sounded a bit tired as she shifted her grip on her suitcases a little.

'But she's forgiven me!' he protested, speeding up a little to walk backwards in front of her, facing her. 'She isn't exactly _over _it, but she will be soon. Come on, Elphaba, we're going to be siblings now! Can't you at least try to be nice to me?'

She pushed her way past him and opened the door to her new room. 'No,' she told him before dragging her luggage inside and shutting the door in his face.

_Well_, he thought with a sinking feeling as he stared at the closed door. _That went smoothly._

* * *

That afternoon, his three childhood friends stopped by to take a good look at Fiyero's new family.

'The girl in the wheelchair is hot,' Moss, one of them, commented. 'She's Nessarose, right? The youngest daughter?'

Fiyero nodded. 'She's a sweet girl. A bit proper at times, but sweet all the same.'

'The Governor gives me the creeps,' Paro announced, and they all chuckled. 'Me, too,' Fiyero admitted in a low whisper. 'He really dotes on Nessa, but Galinda told me that he's really cold and uncaring towards pretty much everyone else. Well, except for my mother, then. He really seems to like her.'

Moss shuddered. 'Well, I don't envy you for having him for a father.'

Fiyero's face darkened. 'He's not my father.'

'No, no, of course he's not,' Moss quickly apologised. 'Sorry, man. That's not what I meant.'

Fiyero sighed and ran his hand through his hair. 'No… No, it's fine. It's just… It's still a sensitive subject.' He took a deep breath. 'Well, this marriage is more out of convenience and strategy than out of love, really. I guess they like each other well enough, but it's more a political thing. I don't think I'll see much of Frex, anyway – ever since he arrived, he has been in his study and nowhere else. He doesn't seem like the type to try and get involved in my life, either, so that should be fine.'

Right that moment, Elphaba passed by – book in her hands, as usual – and looked up. 'Oh. Hi,' she said absent-mindedly before starting to move on again.

Laoyar, however, was gaping at her. 'You're green.'

Elphaba looked up from her book to stare daggers at him, but he didn't catch the warning. 'Why are you green?' he asked curiously.

Fiyero wanted to slap his own forehead. Oz, this was going to be something.

Elphaba paused, placed one hand on her hip and arched one eyebrow. 'It's a fashion statement,' she said with a straight face. 'Haven't you heard? Being green is totally hot in the Emerald City.' With that and a toss of her long ebony hair, she walked on.

All three of Fiyero's friends were gaping after her now. 'Was she serious?' Moss wondered out loud.

Laoyar shook his head, speechless. 'I'm… I'm not sure.'

'I think what she used is called sarcasm,' said Paro with just a touch of, well, sarcasm. 'Guys. Don't you remember _anything_ we tell you? Fiyero wrote us all about her. The green girl he's in love with?'

Laoyar looked ashamed. 'Oh. Yes. I… I guess I was being rude, then. If she was _born_ green, and all… Oh, Oz, I _was _rude!'

'Don't worry about it,' Fiyero reassured his friend, even though he wasn't happy about it. 'She's used to it, however awful and twisted that may be.'

'I'll apologise to her later,' Laoyar promised, and Fiyero smiled faintly at his friend. 'Thanks, man.'

Moss cleared his throat. 'So this is the famous green girl you wrote us about? Elphaba Thropp?'

Fiyero nodded. 'That's her.'

'The one you're in _love _with?' Moss added significantly, and Paro's eyes widened as he realised what that meant. He stared at the Vinkun Prince. 'Sweet Oz. This is awkward. You're in love with your sister!'

'I was in love with her before she became my sister!' Fiyero protested, then added as an afterthought, '_step_sister.'

'Still,' Laoyar insisted. 'You're in love with your sister.' Moss nodded in agreement and Fiyero's shoulders slumped as he gave in. 'Fine. Yes. I'm in love with my stepsister. Oh, Oz, what am I going to _do_?' he moaned, raking his fingers through his hair.

Laoyar looked thoughtful. 'I think it's kind of hot.'

'It's definitely unique,' agreed Moss cheerfully. 'Something even the scandalicious Prince Fiyero Tiggular has never done before. Dating his very own sister – sorry, _step_sister,' he corrected himself with a grin as he saw the warning look on Fiyero's face.

The Vinkun Prince threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. 'You guys are no help at all.' He chewed his bottom lip. 'Is it even legal to date your stepsister?'

'Dude, none of that even matters if you don't get her to like you,' Paro reminded him. 'Who cares if it's legal? You're the scandalacious Prince Fiyero Tiggular. You can pretty much get away with everything.'

Fiyero shook his head and sighed. 'I'm not. Or, well, I don't want to be anymore. It was a childish phase and I've outgrown it.'

Now his friends were gaping at him. 'Wow,' Paro finally said in amazement. 'He's finally grown up.' He patted his friend's back in a mock fatherly gesture. 'I'm proud of you, Yero.'

Fiyero just glared at him.

* * *

The prince knocked on the door as he entered his mother's study. 'Mom?'

Lori didn't look up from the papers she was reading. 'Hm?'

Fiyero hesitated for a moment, then threw it out. 'Is it weird to be in love with your stepsister?' The question had been bothering him ever since he had discussed it with his friends and he wanted his mother's opinion on the matter. At first, he had been overly excited when he heard Elphaba would become his stepsister – he hadn't even thought about it like that; he had merely just seen it as an opportunity to get close to her. But if he thought about it, his friends were right. It _was_ awkward. And weird. And probably illegal. Or at the very least immoral.

Lori looked up for the briefest moment, hid a smile, then turned her attention back to her stack of paperwork. 'Definitely,' she answered his question matter-of-factly.

'But…' He tried to rephrase the question so that she would understand what he was trying to ask. 'Will the people think it's strange? I mean, I'm supposed to be the King of the Vinkus one day, so it matters what the Vinkuns think… Would _they _find it strange?'

'Most probably,' came Lori's calm reply.

His shoulders slumped. 'So you're saying I should give up on her, then. Because it would be weird.'

Now Lori finally looked up, peering at him over her reading glasses. 'Is that how I raised you? To give up on something just because other people think it would be strange?'

Hope flared up inside of him. 'So… I _shouldn't _give up on her?'

Lori sighed and removed her glasses, rubbing her eyes for a moment. 'Yero… If you really love the girl, it doesn't matter if she's your stepsister, just as it doesn't matter that she's green. If you _really_ love her, you don't care about any of that. She's not your real sister, so it's not immoral or perverse. As long as you know, deep down inside, that this is what you want, nothing matters anymore. And if that is the case, then you have my blessing as well.'

His face lit up. 'Really?'

She smiled at her son. 'Of course. She's a sweet girl, Fiyero. She just needs time to open up, get to trust you.'

'I'll work on that,' he promised her as well as himself. He threw his arms around his mother and kissed her cheek. 'Thanks, Mom.'

She shook her head, but smiled. 'You're welcome, Yero.'

But he had already dashed out of the room.

* * *

The wedding was set a few weeks from now, which meant Elphaba, Nessa and Fiyero saw almost nothing of Frex and Lori because there was so much that needed to be taken care of. Elphaba didn't particularly mind; Frex hadn't been around much back in Munckinland either. It wasn't very different for Nessa, who had her sister to take care of her and that was all she cared about, anyway. Fiyero, however, didn't like it. No matter how busy his mother usually was, she would always make time for him; she often worked in the library or in the living room, where he would join her and they would talk while she worked. Now, however, she was nowhere to be seen, so he had to entertain himself.

And so he invited his friends over once again.

This time, when Elphaba and Nessa walked by, Laoyar immediately spoke up. 'Miss Elphaba, I would like to apologise for my rude behaviour earlier.'

She looked surprised – she had never received many apologies – but then she smiled. A small smile, but a genuine one – the smile Fiyero was trying so hard to elicit from her, but which she hadn't directed at him anymore since his and Galinda's breakup. 'Oh, that's all right. I'm used to it,' she said in reply to Laoyar's apology.

The young man bowed. 'Well then, let me properly introduce myself. My name is Laoyar Fivera. I've been friends with Fiyero since high school.'

Elphaba's smile widened a little. 'I'm Elphaba Thropp, as I'm sure Fiyero's already told you. This is my younger sister, Nessarose,' she introduced the girl in the wheelchair, who was also smiling. Laoyar bowed to her as well.

'I'm Moss,' Moss said, kissing first Elphaba's, then Nessa's hand. 'I've also known Fiyero since high school. Out of the four of us, I'm the one with the most common sense,' he declared proudly, at which Laoyar, Paro and Fiyero all snorted. Nessa giggled and Elphaba hid a smirk.

Fiyero rolled his eyes. 'And this is Paro Gauchi.'

By the way Paro observed her and Nessa silently for a moment, then kissed their hands and said, 'It's my pleasure,' Elphaba could tell that he was _really _the one with the most common sense. 'How long have _you_ known Fiyero?' she asked curiously.

'Far too long,' Paro answered immediately and this time, Elphaba actually chuckled. Paro smiled. 'Fiyero and I are cousins. We've known each other all our lives. Why I've stayed friends with this bunch of idiots, I'm not sure, but somehow, we stuck together.'

Nessa giggled again and Elphaba patted Paro's arm sympathetically. 'I know the feeling.'

'Hey!' Fiyero protested, feeling doubly insulted, but she merely shot him a slightly evil smirk before curtsying for his friends. 'If you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way.' With that, she and Nessa left again.

'As you can see, I need ideas,' declared Fiyero miserably. 'She didn't even glance at me.'

'She smirked at you,' Moss offered and the prince shot him a look. 'You're not helping.'

Paro chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully. 'You're really into her, aren't you? You've never acted like this with any of the other girls you dated.'

Fiyero was staring after the green girl. 'Yeah…' He shook his head and directed his attention back towards his friends. 'I just… I don't know what to do. There's this girl code I have to take into account, because I dated her best friend and all… but even aside from that, I really don't think she likes me. At all.'

Paro looked thoughtful. 'She's not like other girls, Yero. You won't be able to win her over by using smooth pick-up lines. If you really care about her, it's going to take a lot of time and patience. Show her the real you. Drop your dancing-through-life façade – forever, if you don't mind, for I think it's about time you grow up anyway – and be real with her. I think that would be the best strategy.'

'And don't push her,' Laoyar added. 'I mean, I obviously don't know her that well, but it seems to me that she's the kind of girl that will only be scared off if you push too hard.' He thought about it for a moment. 'Didn't you say she so dotes on her sister? Perhaps you could make friends with Nessa to get in Elphaba's good grace.'

Fiyero sighed. 'I never knew there was that much work involved with love.'

Moss' eyes had grown wide. 'Did you just hear that, guys? He said the L-word. _Again._'

'He did, didn't he?' Laoyar stared at the prince. 'Who are you and what have you done with Fiyero?'

'We all thought you were exaggerating when you said you were in love with her,' Paro explained to the Vinkun Prince. 'You know, that you were just fascinated by the fact that she's pretty much the only girl alive that doesn't swoon over you as soon as you open your mouth, and that that fact made her a challenge to you. But you really do love her, don't you?'

Fiyero stared at his feet, then sighed and nodded. 'I think I do.'

* * *

Nessa was sitting in her chair by the fireplace, reading, when Fiyero approached her. He coughed softly to get her attention. 'Hey, Nessa.'

She looked surprised, but smiled at him nonetheless. 'Hi, Fiyero.'

'I was just wondering how you like it here,' he explained lamely. 'You know, I guess it's been quite a big change for you and Elphaba.'

'It has,' Nessa agreed. 'But I like it here. Your mother is very nice, the castle is beautiful… I've always loved Munchkinland, and I miss it, I suppose, but I'll be returning there after Shiz to become the Governess, so it's not like I'll be away from it forever. And the Vinkus is very lovely, too. I know Elphaba likes it as well, even though she pretends not to be too interested,' she said with a smile and Fiyero heart leapt a little. 'She does?'

'Don't tell her I said that,' Nessa told him. 'She'd kill me. Elphaba seems to think that by pretending she doesn't have feelings, she won't be able to get hurt.' The girl shook her head. 'She has no idea how wrong she is.'

Fiyero thought about that for a moment. He had to admit it made sense. She always pushed people away; Galinda had been the first one to get through to her and cause her to open up. Fiyero himself had succeeded as well, but somehow, along the way, he had blew it and driven her even further away than she had been at the beginning.

He sighed and decided to skip to another subject. He looked at the book she was holding. 'What are you reading?'

She followed his gaze. 'Oh, it's just a fictional story. Nothing of the calibre Elphaba usually reads,' she smiled. 'It's called _To Shoot a Blackbird._ It's one of my favourites.'

Fiyero grinned, pleasantly surprised. 'You're kidding, right? It's one of my favourites too!'

She looked at him pointedly – a look he hadn't expected from such a sweet and soft looking girl. 'I didn't know you could even read.'

'Ha, ha,' he said sarcastically. 'I can read. I do read. I just don't show anyone. It would ruin my reputation.'

She laughed. 'And we wouldn't want that, now would we?'

'Of course not,' he said, pretending to be offended. 'A reputation, however fake, is all a man has!'

She closed her book. 'But you wish you'd have more than that, don't you?'

He was speechless for a moment. He hadn't expected her to be so observant – what exactly did she know? 'What do you mean?'

'You're looking for something more,' said Nessarose matter-of-factly. 'You've changed, Fiyero. One would have to be blind not to have seen that. Your dancing-through-life philosophy and fake friends aren't enough for you anymore. Seeing you with your _real_ friends the other day made that clearer to me than anything.'

He stared at her. 'Is this a Thropp family trait? Do all Thropp women see right through every man they encounter?'

Nessa smiled and opened her book again. 'No. Elphaba is just extremely perceptive – sometimes frighteningly so – and myself… well, I suppose I've been keeping an eye on you since we got here. You're getting easier to read, Fiyero. Your façade is crumbling.'

'Huh,' he muttered under his breath, his face a thundercloud. 'How wonderful.'

Nessa laughed again. 'That's not a bad thing, you know.'

'I'm not so sure about that,' said Fiyero sarcastically, slumping down into a chair beside her. She patted his arm comfortingly. 'It's better if you let people see the real you. That goes especially for Elphaba,' she added casually and Fiyero's head shot up. 'What?'

She rolled her eyes at him and for a moment, she reminded him _so _much of her sister. 'Don't play dumb with me, Fiyero. Everyone with eyes can see you've got a crush on her.'

He spluttered, but she just looked at him, then raised one eyebrow, until he gave in. 'Fine,' he grumbled. 'I didn't know it was that obvious.'

'It is,' Nessa said cheerfully. 'To anyone but Fabala herself, that is.'

He shook his head. 'She already knows. Galinda told her.'

At that, the younger girl looked surprised. 'Really?'

Fiyero nodded. 'I told Galinda that I wanted to break up with her because I was in love with Elphaba, and Galinda then told Elphaba. She knows.'

'And how did she react?' Nessa prodded. He shook his head. 'She said she didn't care.'

Nessa grimaced. 'Ouch.'

'Yeah. You could say that.' He stared at the fire blazing in the fireplace, lost in thought. 'But I'm not going to give up,' he vowed. 'I'm going to make her love me, whether she likes it or not!'

Nessa giggled. 'That's the spirit.'


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Thank you so much for the reviews!**

**I****'m actually surprised on how much I'm enjoying this :). I was always so into the Fiyeraba fluff, and I thought it would be really hard for me to slow it down and drag the them getting together out over almost an entire story, but to be quite honest with you, I'm finding it to be a lot of fun ^_^.**

**Brownie points for the one that finds yet another Tangled reference in here (I friggin' love that movie).**

* * *

'Galinda and Boq will arrive next weekend.'

Elphaba had been engrossed in her book, but that one sentence caught her attention and her head shot up. 'What?'

Nessa was grinning broadly. 'You heard me. I asked father if I could invite them over for the wedding, and I could. So I did. They're arriving next weekend and they'll stay until two or three weeks after the wedding, to keep us company while father and Miss Lori go on their honeymoon.'

'Drop the 'Miss', Nessa, please,' Lori, who just entered the room, said with a smile on her face. 'Just call me Lori. Nothing more, nothing less. Nessa, honey, if that smile gets any wider, your face is going to split in half.'

Elphaba chuckled softly. 'She just found out that her boyfriend is coming over next weekend.'

Lori beamed at the girls. 'Oh, so that Munchkin boy Frex mentioned is your boyfriend? How adorable! Have you been together for long?'

'For about eight months,' announced Nessa proudly, and Lori clasped her hands together in delight. 'How wonderful! I thought Frexspar mentioned another guest, too – a young lady, from the Upper Uplands? Glinda?'

'Galinda,' Elphaba nodded. 'She's my best friend.'

Lori smiled at her. 'No wonder the two of you are so excited, then. I'm looking forward to meeting them both!'

'She's also Fiyero's ex-girlfriend,' Elphaba continued drily, and Nessa nudged her sister between the ribs. 'Fabala!'

Lori let out a bubbly laugh. 'Oh, sweetheart, I knew that already. Fiyero's told me all about her.' For some deep, dark reason she _really _didn't want to explore any further, Elphaba felt a slight pang at that. 'He's looking forward to seeing her again.'

Elphaba swallowed. 'If you'll excuse me, Nessa, Miss- I mean, Lori… I'll be in my room.' With that, she fled the living room.

As if that weren't bad enough already, she bumped into Fiyero on her way upstairs.

'Well hello there,' he said, smiling at her. 'Haven't seen you around much lately.'

'It's a big castle,' she answered curtly, clutching her book to her chest as if that way she could muffle the sound of her pounding heart. What was the _matter _with her?

'How are you?' he asked, sounding genuinely interested. She eyed him a bit warily. 'Fine.'

'Do you like the Vinkus?'

She nodded, unable to keep a faint smile from gracing her lips. 'I love it here. It's very different from Munchkinland, but I feel more at home here. People are… different. And the country itself is beautiful.'

He returned her smile with one of his famous lopsided grins, causing her stomach to do these silly little somersaults. 'I'm glad.'

He looked at her for a while, causing her to feel uncomfortable, until he noticed the book she was holding and his grin broadened. '_To Shoot A Blackbird_?'

She cradled it against her chest protectively and he laughed. 'And here I was thinking you only read boring scientific books.'

'How do you know this isn't a scientific book?' she retorted, at which he said simply, 'I read it.'

She stared at him. 'You _read _it?'

'It's my favourite, actually,' he elaborated. She smiled a little. 'Mine, too. My secret favourite – I never used to read stories like this, you know, fictional stories, but it's Nessa's favourite. She recommended it to me once and to please her, I read it. And, well… It stuck.'

Fiyero tried his hardest not to do a stupid little happy dance – she hadn't opened up to him like this in months. 'I received it for my birthday one day. I read one page, and I was hooked,' he confessed. 'I've read other books, naturally, but none of them were like this one.'

'So you do read.'

He rolled his eyes. 'Yes, you can act surprised now. I read. A lot, actually. I've got a shelf full of books in my room upstairs. Ssh.' He put one finger to his lips in an exaggerated gesture and actually elicited a small laugh from her. 'No, seriously. I love to read. Just… not in public.'

When he looked at her again, she was smirking. 'Told you.'

He frowned, genuinely confused. 'Told me what?'

When she brushed past him, she patted his cheek as if he were a small boy and whispered in his ear, 'Not _really _stupid.'

Then she was gone.

* * *

Fiyero, Lori, and Elphaba were sitting in the living room one morning a few days later, each occupied with their own activities; Lori was knitting, Elphaba was reading, and Fiyero was… well, bored. As usual. He looked up when Frex went to stand in the doorway. 'Elphaba?'

The raven-haired girl looked up from the book she was reading, sensing the slight anxiety in her father's voice. 'Yes, father?'

'Nessarose has a fever,' Frex told her. 'It doesn't appear to be dangerous, but I need you to take care of her.'

'Of course!' She immediately put her book away and rushed out of the room and through a hallway to the room her younger sister occupied in the castle. Nessa was lying in bed, looking even paler than usual. She appeared to be sleeping, but when Elphaba quietly entered the room, the girl opened her eyes. 'Fabala?'

'Ssh, Nessie, I'm right here.' Elphaba stroked a strand of hair out of her sister's face and smiled down at her. 'Can I get you anything?' It wasn't the first time she had to take care of her younger sister and she pretty much knew the routine. Getting Nessa to eat and drink something and urge her to rest, mostly. She'd usually get better within a few days. She had always had a rather weak health.

'Water…' Nessa's voice was hoarse and barely audible, but Elphaba caught it anyway and nodded. 'Water it is.' She picked up the empty glass at her sister's bedside and went to the bathroom to fill it. She also soaked a piece of cloth in the water and wrung it out; then she returned to Nessa and helped her sit up a little so that she could take small sips from the water. When she was done, Elphaba helped her lie back down again and placed the wet piece of cloth on Nessa's forehead, to which the younger girl heaved a sigh with relief. 'Thank you, Fabala,' she whispered, half asleep again already.

Elphaba stayed with her sister throughout the day, lying fresh pieces of wet cloth on her forehead every half hour, helping her get to the bathroom, making her drink water and feeding her spoons of broth, tiny bits at a time. Lori came to check up on them a few times, asking them if they needed anything, which Elphaba thought was really nice of her; but Frex didn't appear – not that Elphaba had expected him to. Even with Nessa being his precious little girl, he didn't like actually taking _care _of her – that was Elphaba's job. Plus, she knew Frex didn't like sick people, so he'd probably stay away from Nessa entirely until she had gotten better.

'Fabala?' the sick girl asked quietly that night. Elphaba, who had been reading by the bedside, looked at her sister, taking off her glasses and putting the book on the nightstand. 'Yes, Nessie?'

'Will you sing for me?'

Elphaba hadn't sung in a long time. When they were younger, Nessa had been afraid of the dark and Elphaba used to sing her to sleep every night – calming, soothing songs, lullabies her mother had sung to her when Elphaba herself had been a small child. She didn't remember all of them, and of some she only remembered the melody, not the words – she had, after all, only been two and a half when her mother died – but Nessa didn't care; she loved it when her older sister sang. Later, when Nessa had outgrown her fears, Elphaba only sang for her little sister when she was ill or upset about something. She hadn't sung now for what must have been at least six or seven years, but Nessa looked so fragile and small in the bed, face pale, already caught in a half-slumber, that the green girl was willing to do it – just this once. 'Of course, Nessie.' She cleared her throat, opened her mouth and sang. It was one of her favourite lullabies, the one her mother had sung to her the most, and she knew it to be a favourite of Nessa's, too. It was a Quadling song; Elphaba didn't understand the words exactly, but her mother had explained to her what they meant. A promise of safety, of love, of a wonderful life. Perhaps that was why Elphaba, who had never really known any of those things, liked it so much.

Nessa's eyes slowly fluttered shut and a faint smile appeared on her face as Elphaba sang for her. She sang the entire song, and by the time she was finished, Nessa's chest was falling and rising in a slow, even rhythm and she was fast asleep. Elphaba looked at the peaceful face of her little sister for a while longer, a smile around her own lips; then she took her book back from the nightstand and started reading again.

* * *

Fiyero was wandering through the hallways, looking for his mother, when he heard something. It sounded like a woman's voice. It also sounded like the voice was singing, but who would it be then? Lori didn't sing. Which was probably best, too, because her voice sounded like a screeching crow's. He grinned at that. It was probably one of the servants, singing while doing her work, but it sounded beautiful nonetheless and since he was bored anyway, he decided to find the singer.

He followed the voice and the closer he came, the more awestruck he was. If this was a servant, he would feel forced to fire her and make her pursue a career in music, for it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. He didn't recognise the song and he couldn't understand the words – it was probably a song in a different language – but the melody captured him and his feet found their way towards the sound almost by themselves. He stopped in front of a door. The singing came from inside, but he didn't want to disturb whoever the singer was. So he sat down on the floor and closed his eyes as he listened, letting the beautiful, clear voice carry him away as it rang through the hallway.

After a while, he noticed that the door was open, just a crack, and he tried to peek through it to see who was singing. He could barely believe his eyes, however, when he saw that it was Elphaba, singing the song to her ill sister. _Elphaba? Could Elphaba sing like this? _He only then realised that he had never heard her sing before.

She finished the song then and he heard her stir inside, so he hastily scrambled to his feet and hurried back downstairs. He was sure she wouldn't be happy about him eavesdropping on her singing – something she clearly rarely ever did.

He was determined to change that, however.

Later that night, when he was preparing for bed, he noticed the soft light still glowing from under Nessarose's door and he frowned. Was Elphaba still up? He quietly pushed open the door and poked his head inside. What he saw made him smile.

Nessa was in the bed, still pale, but looking slightly better, apparently in deep sleep. Elphaba was curled up in the armchair next to the bed. Apparently she had been reading, for the candle on the nightstand was still lighted and there was a book on the arm of the chair, but she had fallen asleep while doing so; her arm was draped over the book and her cheek was resting on her arm. It looked incredibly uncomfortable, but, Fiyero thought to himself, smiling slightly, quite adorable as well. Instead of waking her, he gently pulled the book away from under her arm and she shifted slightly, muttering something unintelligible in her sleep. He then went to fetch a blanket from the closet in the corner of the room and carefully draped it over her, so that at least she wouldn't be cold when she'd wake up. She was bound to feel wrecked, though, from sleeping in a chair all night, but he knew waking her wouldn't be of any use. She'd want to stay with Nessa anyway. This way, at least she'd get some sleep.

He looked at her face for a while longer. It was soft and peaceful in the dim light, and sleep made her look younger than she really was. He knew he'd never see her like this when she would be awake; this was a rare sight, and one that enchanted him. He was amazed by the many different sides there seemed to be to Elphaba. She could be sarcastic, friendly, annoyed, shy, witty, ill-tempered, oblivious, polite, angry, and, in rare cases, soft, within a span of minutes. She had so many sides, and he loved every single one of them.

He thought about her singing earlier, and that gave him an idea. He'd talk it over with Paro the next day – of all his friends, Paro was obviously the most serious and occasionally even romantic one, and so the right person to discuss these sort of things with. He made a mental note to ask his friend about this when he'd see him.

For now, he gently blew out the candle, immersing the room in darkness. 'Goodnight, Elphaba,' he whispered before leaving the room as quietly as he had come.

* * *

The next morning, when Lori, Frex, and Fiyero were having breakfast, Elphaba came downstairs. She looked exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes and her hair all tangled up, but she sounded relieved, although weary, when she spoke. 'Nessa's fever broke,' she announced tiredly. 'She'll be fine again soon.'

Fiyero was glad. For Nessa's sake, of course, because they were friends – sort of – and he didn't wish her to be ill, but more so for Elphaba's sake, because the green girl looked as if she wouldn't be able to live through another night like the last one. Fiyero got up. 'Elphaba, you look as if you're about to fall asleep on the spot. Why don't you go to bed yourself now?'

She glared at him. 'I'm fine, Fiyero. I'll survive. Father, Nessarose would really like to see you now,' she said, effectively changing the subject.

Frex scowled at her. 'I'm a busy man, Elphaba. Keep your sister company until she is able to come down and sit with us again. I'll see her then.'

'That's what I told her you'd say,' Elphaba muttered under her breath as she turned and made to go back upstairs. 'But does anyone ever listen to me? Of course not…'

'Elphaba, stop the mumbling!' Frex snapped. 'It's very unbecoming.'

'I'm sorry, father,' Elphaba complied, but she didn't look at him as she left the room. Fiyero hesitated for a moment, then jumped up and sprinted after her. 'Fae, wait! Hold up!'

She stopped and turned around to face him. 'What's the matter?' she asked, softening a little when she heard him use his old nickname for her. He had made it up somewhere during their tutoring sessions, after she had told him she'd kill him if he called her 'Elphie'. She secretly liked it when he called her 'Fae', but she would rather bite off her own tongue than tell him that.

'Look,' he said now, 'why don't I go sit with Nessa for a few hours so you can catch some sleep? No offense, but you look horrendible. As if you haven't slept in weeks. Galinda would _kill _you if she saw those circles under your eyes.'

Elphaba sighed. 'Fiyero, I'm fine, really. I'll go sit with Nessa myself and-'

'You're going to sleep,' he stated, 'and _I _am going to sit with Nessa. I'm her friend, too, you know. And I know ways to keep sick people busy – had plenty of practice with my Mom. Trust me, she's a _disaster _when she's sick.'

The green girl hesitated. 'I don't…'

'I insist,' he said and she gave in. 'Fine. I'll go catch some sleep. But you can_not _leave her alone, understand? And if she asks for me, come and wake me right away.'

He waved her away. 'Of course. Just go to sleep, Elphaba.'

'Okay.' She started to walk away, but hesitated, then said reluctantly, 'Thank you.'

He flashed her one of his famous lopsided grins. 'You're welcome.'

He appeared to be cool. But inside, his heart was soaring.

* * *

'ELPHIE!'

Naturally, the raven-haired girl had expected nothing less from her best friend. The yelping of that horrendous nickname, accompanied by a bone-crushing hug, seemed to be Galinda's favourite way of greeting her friend after not having seen each other for a while. 'Oh my _Oz_, Elphie, I couldn't believe it when you told me your father was marrying _Fiyero's mother_! You're going to be, like, siblings! That is _so _weird! And slightly disturbing,' she whispered in Fiyero's ear, raising her eyebrows suggestively. He sulked. 'I know.'

'Aaaaaanyway,' Galinda continued, while Boq rushed past her to greet his girlfriend, who was in her chair near Frex and Lori, 'I bought you all gifts! Lots and lots and lots of gifts! Fiyero, these are for you,' she announced, beckoning a servant carrying two light blue shopping bags. 'Nessa and Boq, these are for you!' Another servant brought forward three silver-looking shopping bags. 'Governor Thropp,' Galinda then curtsied for Frex, who nodded in acknowledgement, 'and your Majes-'

'Call her Lori or she'll kill you,' Fiyero hissed at her and Galinda gulped. 'Lori.'

The Queen laughed and patted the blonde girl's cheek. 'Hello, Galinda. It's nice to finally meet you. And I think it's very thoughtful of you to buy us all presents.'

'Oh, these aren't _all _the presents!' Galinda protested, looking horrified. 'There are _many, many _more! These are pre-wedding gifts – then I have the actual wedding gifts, there's another gift for you honeymoon…'

'Galinda!' Elphaba exclaimed in exasperation and the bubbly blonde turned to face her friend with a smirk. 'And then of course there are _Elphie's _presents.' Two servants brought forward five multi-coloured shopping bags and Elphaba's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. '_Galinda!_'

'You need clothes, Elphie,' Galinda announced with a straight face. 'You _desperately_ need clothes. Lots and lots and lots of clothes. You're going to be a princess now – sort of, anyway – and so you need some decent dresses. Plus there's jewellery in there, and make-up… Oh, I'm so glad I'm here!' she exulted, bouncing up and down the way only Galinda could. 'It's so good to see you all!'

'It is,' Boq agreed, finally seeing his chance to greet his other friends as well. He shook Fiyero's hand and kissed Elphaba's. 'Fiyero. Elphaba. How are you?'

Elphaba smiled at him. 'We're fine, Boq, thank you.' She looked at her sister, who was wearing a permanent radiating smile. 'Nessa seems happy to see you.'

His face lit up. 'I'm happy to see her, too! I mean, I'm happy for her, that she lives in this beautiful castle and stuff, but I miss her terribly. We used to live so close to each other and now we're so far apart…' He sighed wearily. 'Well, it'll be different once we're back at Shiz again, I suppose.'

Elphaba patted his arm sympathetically. 'Then you'll be spending much more time together. Like last year,' she added with a touch of sarcasm. 'Seriously, the two of you were just glued to each other. Sometimes you were even worse than Galinda and Fiyero.'

Fiyero cleared his throat awkwardly at that, but Galinda just giggled. 'Well…'

Just then, Fiyero's friends came rushing into the hall, panting and looking slightly bewildered. 'Sorry we're late!'

'That's fine,' Lori assured them with a smile. 'You can meet our new guests now. This is Boq…'

The Munchkin boy shook Paro, Laoyar and Moss' hands. 'And this is Galinda Upland.'

'Of the _Upper _Uplands,' Galinda added, as usual, as the boys all took turns kissing her hand. 'Oh, my,' Moss breathed. 'I think we're in paradise.'

Galinda giggled and made a dismissive hand gesture. 'Oh, stop it!' she said in a flirty voice.

Laoyar went down upon one knee. 'Will you marry me?'

Galinda's giggling became slightly hysterical.

'Well,' Elphaba said drily, 'it seems they will keep themselves occupied.' She turned to face her sister. 'Do you want me to take Boq to his room, Nessie?'

'Oh, no, thank you, Fabala, I'll do that myself,' the girl said, smiling up at her boyfriend. 'He's been assigned a room near mine, on the ground floor, so that we can visit each other whenever we like!'

'Oh, joy,' said Elphaba sarcastically, but her sister didn't even notice as she left the room with Boq. Lori and Frex left as well and the three Vinkuns were still swooning over Galinda, who tossed her blonde girls and giggled madly all the time, taking turns flirting with them.

Elphaba shifted a little. 'It must hurt a little, to see her like this with other boys.'

'It doesn't,' Fiyero said immediately. 'I'm over her. Totally. Have been for a long time. I just want her to be happy, and judging by the hysterical giggling, I suppose she is.'

Elphaba chuckled. 'Galinda's always happy.' Her face darkened. 'Except for when she gets _dumped _by her boyfriend.'

Fiyero sighed. 'Elphaba…'

'Oh, Elphie, you're not still mad about that, are you?' Galinda exclaimed as she wrestled herself free from her admirers. 'Come on, let it go! And besides, Fiyero's friends are _way _cuter than Fiyero himself is.'

'Hey!' Fiyero protested, but Elphaba merely chuckled again. 'Are you _really _sure you're okay with all this, Lin? With everything?'

'I'm okay with me and Fiyero having broken up,' said Galinda. 'I'm okay with him dating other girls, I'm okay with me dating other boys.' She threw a kiss in Laoyar's direction, who pretended to catch it and looked ready to faint. 'I'm okay with Fiyero and you living together – actually, I think that's pretty awesome. I'm okay with everything right now, okay? I love my life at this moment.' She giggled again and added casually, but with mischievously sparkling eyes, 'Hell, I'd be okay with you and Fiyero dating, if you wanted to! Actually, that would even be pretty cool…' She locked eyes with Fiyero at that, trying to apologise for being mean earlier. He didn't notice that, however; he was merely looking slightly panicked. Why would Galinda do something like that? She, too, knew that Elphaba didn't like him, so what was this about?

Elphaba didn't say anything at all; she merely narrowed her eyes at her best friend. 'I'll see you around later, Lin,' she said instead, tucking her book under her arm and walking away. 'You can come and find me after you're done with your admirers.'

Galinda wanted to skip after her friend right away, but Fiyero caught her arm. 'Galinda? Can I talk to you for a clock-tick?'

'Sure!' the blonde said brightly, winking at the three boys. 'I'll be right back,' she said in a seductive voice before allowing Fiyero to pull her out into the hallway. 'What was that about?'

She blinked her eyes innocently at him. 'What was what about?'

Fiyero mimicked her, tossing his hair. '"I'd even be okay with you and Fiyero dating, if you wanted to!" What made you say that?!'

She made a face. 'Well, I'm sorry. I was just… um… trying to open certain… doors… you know, to certain… possibilities.'

He rolled her eyes. 'Galinda, you know as well as I do that she doesn't like me.'

'What do you mean, she doesn't like you? Of course she likes you!'

He sighed. 'Well, yes, I suppose she probably _likes _me now, which is already more than I could say a few weeks ago… but she doesn't love me. She probably never will.'

'What?!' Galinda shrieked. 'She _said _that?!'

'Well… no,' he admitted. 'Not really. But she did… um… indirectly. I mean, she knew why we broke up, right? And she said she didn't care. Isn't that girl language for 'I know you're in love with me and it doesn't matter at all because I don't love you back'?'

Galinda just stared at him as if he were the biggest idiot in Oz.

'What?' he demanded, when the silence became uncomfortable. She shook her head. 'Fifi… I never told her why we broke up.'

He was so flabbergasted that he didn't even mind the silly nickname. 'You didn't?'

She shook her head. 'I told her what you'd said to me, that you didn't love me anymore, but I never so much as breathed a word about you loving her. I couldn't, you know? I'm over it now, I really am, but it did hurt back then, Fiyero. I… I didn't want the two of you to get together,' she admitted, feeling ashamed of herself. 'I felt that if I couldn't have you, no one could… not yet, at least. Plus there was also the fact that you had asked me not to tell her.'

'So… so she _does _like me?' He was feeling giddy now. He hadn't expected this at all!

'I didn't say that,' Galinda immediately burst his bubble sternly. 'To be quite honest with you, I haven't got the slightest clue if she likes you or not. My love radar is incredible, but Elphie is even more incredible in hiding her feelings. There's no way to tell, really. I'll try and find out, but I can't promise you anything.'

'But… should I do something?' he asked uncertainly. 'I mean… I want to let her know. Somehow. Without her feeling threatened and running away – which is going to be pretty hard, probably, since this is Elphaba we're talking about.'

Galinda giggled. 'Yes. Okay. Um… did you have anything in mind?'

'Actually…' he said, thinking back to the day he had heard Elphaba sing and the plan he had come up with afterwards. He had wanted to discuss it with Paro, but it had slipped his mind. Now he was glad it had. Galinda knew far more about this – she'd be able to tell him if this were a good plan or if it sucked. 'Yes.'

Galinda jumped up and down, clapping her hands, all bouncy. 'Tell me tell me tell me!'

He did.

'That's perfect!' she screeched. 'You have to do that! You have to! Do it at the engagement dinner tomorrow!'

He blanched. 'To-tomorrow?'

'The sooner the better, Fifi,' his ex-girlfriend told him sternly, patting his cheek. 'Now go ahead and arrange what needs to be arrange. It'll be wonderful!'


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hi everyone!**

**So, you've probably all noticed that I'm updating a low slower than I used to. Part of the reason is the one I mentioned earlier, probably best summarised as 'life' - mostly crazy university stuff. The other reason is that I started working on my book again :). I'm completely rewriting it - in _English_, because that just seems to work better for me than does Dutch -, changing things in the process, so it's a lot of work, but it's fun work. Anyway, that's why my updates are coming slowly at the moment - but I promise they'll keep coming nonetheless.**

**Then the song - I put it in because every time I hear it, I think of Elphie and Fiyero and it just seems fitting in my head. I hope you guys agree. I have the Glee version in mind, though, the slow piano version, not the original one. Just so you know :).**

**Oh, and the dress is a Glee one too - the one Rachel wears when she and Kurt sing For Good together in the episode New York. Because I love the dress. I wish I owned it. But I don't, so I put it on Elphaba instead O:).**

* * *

An engagement dinner.

It wasn't as bad as a ball, or an actual feast, but it was still bad. It meant Elphaba would actually have to dress up, which she hated. It meant with her being the daughter of the groom, everyone would constantly look at her, which she hated. It meant making small talk with strangers, which she hated. And it meant dancing, which she also hated.

Galinda, of course, was completely in her element. 'Elphie?' she called from the walk-in closet in her room. 'Do you think I should wear pink or purple?'

Elphaba, who was stretched out on the blonde's bed, reading a book, sighed. 'Does it matter?'

'Or perhaps I should wear blue… it matches my eyes,' said Galinda thoughtfully. Elphaba heard her friend rummaging through the clothes for another while until she came out with a huge pile of dresses in her arms. 'Okay, do you think I should wear the yellow one, the gold one, the blue one, the pink one, the orange one, the red one, the silver one, the white one, the purple one, or the one with the swirling patterns?'

Elphaba didn't even look up from her book, but pointed a finger at the stack of dresses. 'Eeny, meeny, miny, moe-'

'_Elphie!'_

Elphaba lowered her book slightly. 'I think you should wear lavender.' The only reason she picked that colour was because it was practically the only colour that wasn't among the dresses in Galinda's arms, and she liked messing with her friend.

Galinda actually squealed. 'Oh my Oz, that's such a good idea!' She immediately dropped the dresses she was holding and dove inside her closet again. It took her ten more minutes to emerge with two more dresses. 'So do you think I should wear this one,' she shook the one in her left hand, 'or this one?' She shook the right dress.

Elphaba peered over her book and suppressed a sigh. 'What's the difference again?'

Galinda flashed her an annoyed look. 'Oh, come on! They are completely different! This one is lilac and this one is lavender, this one has ruffles and this one has tulle, this-'

'The left one,' Elphaba said without looking up. Galinda considered both dresses for another while before tossing the right one on the quickly growing pile on the floor. 'Yes, you're right. This one. I'm gonna go get changed. Would you do me a favour and brush your hair for me, Elphie? That way I'll have less work curling it later on.'

'My hair is fine.'

'No, it's not,' Galinda said sternly, wiggling a finger in her friend's face. 'And I'm going to give you a makeover, no matter what, so you might as well cooperate. That would make it easier on everyone.'

Elphaba sighed, but complied, knowing she would never escape her blonde friend. She brushed her hair while Galinda changed, and when the blonde emerged again, she started searching through the shopping bags she had brought with her. She tossed a few dresses in Elphaba's lap. 'Try these on.'

Elphaba looked at them as if they were poisonous snakes. 'They're not black.'

'I know!' Galinda exulted. 'I used all kinds of colour schemes to see which colours would go well with your skin tone! I came to the conclusion that too much red would clash, but this one,' she pointed at a white dress with a red and black pattern of what looked a suspicious lot like waffles, 'would be just _perfect_. Dark blue would be too boring – now don't you scowl at me, you know as well as I do that your precious blue frocks are incredibly boring – but a light blue, like, sky blue or azure blue,' she pointed at another dress, a light blue one with ruffles, 'would look totally gorgeous on you. You can wear white, or silver, or cream white, or a dark shade of green… really, Elphie, I don't know why you're always wearing dark blue and black when here are so many colours that look good on you!'

Elphaba just stared at her, one eyebrow arched.

'Stop looking at me like that, Elphie,' Galinda scolded. 'Try them on. Just try them, that's all I'm asking from you. If you hate them, you can slap me.'

Elphaba's eyes lit up. 'Finally, something to look forward to this evening!'

Galinda stuck out her tongue. 'Now go or we'll be late!'

Elphaba tried on the different dresses and Galinda judged each and every single one of them. She finally decided on what Elphaba had silently named 'the waffle dress'. 'The red matches perfectly with the chocolate brown of your eyes,' she explained, at which Elphaba just looked at her blankly. The blonde shook her head dismissively. 'Never mind. It just looks perfect on you. And I've got the perfect shoes to match it!' She skipped into her closet once again, only to reappear with a pair of black heels. Elphaba backed off immediately. 'Oh, no. No heels.'

'Elphie, you'll look ridiculous if you don't wear heels with that dress,' Galinda insisted. 'They're not that high, I saw to that. _Wear them_.'

Somehow, the petite blonde managed to convince the green girl once again and before she knew it, Elphaba was sitting at the vanity with Galinda curling her hair and doing her make-up. The girl took her time preparing both of them, but finally, she declared herself and her best friend gorgeous and agreed to go down to the party. 'And just in time, too!'

Elphaba interrupted her fumbling with the multiple black straps crossing over her shoulders to glance at the time. 'We're not in time. We're late.'

'_Fashionably _late,' Galinda corrected her, linking her arm with the raven-haired girl. 'Come on, let's go have some fun!'

* * *

To Galinda's utter satisfaction, they managed to make quite an entrance. Most guests had arrived already and were talking to one another in the ballroom while waiting for the dining room doors to open; and when Galinda opened the door and proudly walked into the room, head held high, tossing her blonde curls, most guests turned to look at her. She stayed on her spot for a few moment, giving everyone a chance to admire her; then she pulled Elphaba into the room and slowly started walking towards where Fiyero and his friends were standing.

Elphaba felt extremely self-conscious and uncomfortable, nervously twirling an ebony curl around her finger, while Galinda basked in everyone's admiration. When they reached the boys, Galinda gave them all an endearing smile. 'Hello, boys.'

'Hi, Galinda,' said Fiyero, but the blonde noticed smugly that he didn't take his eyes off Elphaba for even a clock-tick. The other three boys were looking first at the green girl, then at the blonde one, practically drooling all the time. 'Galinda,' Paro said politely after clearing his throat, kissing her hand. He then took Elphaba's and kissed it, too. 'Elphaba.'

'Paro,' Galinda nodded with a smile. Just then, Frex and Lori arrived and dinner was announced. Everyone moved into the dining room and took a seat. Frexspar and Lori were both at the head of the table; next to Frex were Nessarose and Elphaba, and Lori was flanked by Fiyero. The others had to sit at a different part of the table, which none of them liked, but they didn't have a choice; Galinda and Boq, nor Paro, Moss and Laoyar, were royalty, and so they had to sit with the other guests.

Elphaba wished that she had brought a book, for the dinner was extremely tedious. First, there was a long speech from Frex, after which they started eating, but every few minutes someone else would get up to give another speech or toast the soon-to-be couple. Nessa seemed to have the time of her life, talking to her father, but also to the other guests about her life, what she thought of the Vinkus, and how she would become the Governess of Munchkinland when she would be old enough. No one seemed to be interested in Elphaba, so she just sat and waited patiently until dinner was over.

Suddenly, someone nudged her with their foot under the table, and she started. When she looked up, she saw Fiyero grinning at her. 'Are you bored?'

She returned his grin. 'Maybe.'

He laughed. 'I don't blame you.' He scowled when the man sitting next to him accidentally poked his arm as he used wide arm gestures to explain something to the man on his other side. It was a rather fat man, with a double chin and small, black eyes, like a pig's, and Fiyero grinned at Elphaba. Then he started to mimic the man, squinting, scowling and gesturing wildly with his arms, causing Elphaba to stifle a chuckle. Nessa saw it, too, and burst out in a fit of giggles, attracting her father's attention. 'Is something wrong, my dear?'

'Nothing, father,' Nessa said, still giggling. Lori threw a suspicious look in Fiyero's direction, but he just looked back with wide, innocent eyes.

After dinner, they all moved to the ball room again, where it was time for what most people called 'entertainment'.

Elphaba called it 'torture'.

Frex and Lori's wedding planner – who also happened to be Lori's brother and Fiyero's uncle, Jerro – had hired a musical group to perform songs, which was nice. The horror, however, was that any guest who wished to do something for the soon-to-be couple, like speech, read a poem, or perform a piece of music, could take the stage. Many of them did. Not many of them were much good at it.

There was a man who decided that he was the best opera singer in the world and made everyone else resist the urge to cover their ears with their hands. The Ambassador of Gillikin held an extremely long and tedious speech about how happy he was for the couple. Luckily, there were also a few people that actually had a talent – there was a wonderful singer among them, a friend of Lori's, and a man played the piano just beautifully. Just when Elphaba thought the guest performances had come to an end, Lori stepped up to announce one final performer. 'I'm very proud to tell you all,' she began, with shining eyes, 'that my very own son, Fiyero Tiggular, will now take the stage to play the piano and sing for us.'

Elphaba leaned a little towards Galinda. 'Fiyero can _sing_?!'

Galinda just giggled.

Fiyero started playing and Elphaba couldn't help but be fascinated as she watched his fingers dance over the piano keys with more skill than she had thought him capable of. He must have played the piano for a long time, but she hadn't known he could until now; this was the first time she actually heard him play.

He wasn't a bad singer, either, as they all discovered a few moments later. Galinda couldn't stop her giggling – this was just perfect. Was there anything more romantic than a boy singing a love song to a girl? In public, nonetheless! Normally, it would probably have made Elphaba nervous, but Galinda didn't even think her friend knew that the song was about her – and she turned out to be right about that. She would have to push Elphie a little, but it would be totally worth it. Galinda loved playing matchmaker.

Elphaba stood next to her blonde friend and just watched in awe as Fiyero sang his song.

'_Let me love you_

_And I will love you until you learn to love yourself._'

She didn't know the song, but it was beautiful. Just as she thought that, he looked in their direction and Elphaba's heart sank. He was singing the song to Galinda. Of course he was singing the song to Galinda. She _knew _it! She knew they were still in love with each other!

Then Galinda did something confusing. She moved closer to her friend to whisper in the green girl's ear, 'He's totally looking at you right now.'

Elphaba shook her head. 'He's not, Lin. I know he's not.' She kept watching him as he played and sang. 'He's still in love with you.'

At that, Galinda choked on her champagne. 'Excuse me?'

'Don't you see he's singing this song to you?'

Galinda sighed in exasperation and put her empty glass on a table. 'Elphie Thropp, I don't know if it's your lack of experience or the fact that you always have your nose buried in a book, but trust me on this one. I'm the boy expert here. He's _totally _singing this song to you. He's looking at you.'

'He's looking at _you_.'

'He's looking at _us_,' Galinda corrected her, 'because you're part of 'us'.' Elphaba just stared at her. 'All right, I'll prove it. I'm going to walk to the other side of the room now, and then we'll see who he's looking at,' Galinda said smugly, matching her words with deeds before Elphaba could stop her. The green girl opened her mouth, but her friend had already left and so she closed it again and looked back at Fiyero.

'_I can see the pain behind your eyes, it's been there for quite a while_

_I just wanna be the one to remind you what it is to smile_

_I would like to show you what true love can really do._'

He looked up again, his eyes found her… and stayed there.

Her heart started pounding faster. _He's looking at me. Oh my Oz, he's looking at _me_. Not at Galinda. At _me_. Why would he be looking at me?_

He sang along, his eyes locked on hers, and somehow she knew for sure now that his words were meant for her.

'_Let me love you_

_And I will love you until you learn to love yourself_

_Let me love you_

_My heart of numbness gets brought to life_

_I'll take you there.'_

He finished, playing the last notes on the piano. The tones trailed away and it was silent for a few clock-ticks; then everyone started applauding. Fiyero smiled a little, bowed, then left the stage. The professional musicians started to play again and he started making his way through the crowd, looking for Elphaba, eager to see her reaction.

But when he reached the spot where he had last seen her, she wasn't there anymore.

* * *

Galinda knew she wouldn't find her friend in her room – the green girl probably knew that was the first place Fiyero would look for her. Fiyero didn't know her the way Galinda did, though, so the blonde was barely surprised when she found her friend in Galinda's own room, lying on her back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

The blonde girl closed the door behind her. 'So what's wrong? Why are you hiding in my room?'

It was silent for a while as Elphaba opened and closed her mouth a few times, lost for words – a rare thing for her. Finally, she settled for a simple, 'I'm confused.'

Galinda waited for her friend to elaborate, but she didn't, and so the blonde sighed and perched herself on the bed at Elphaba's feet. 'I suppose that'll do as an explanation, because we all know what happens when Elphaba Thropp gets confused. She runs away.'

Elphaba started spluttering, but Galinda interjected, 'Am I wrong?'

She spluttered for another moment before heaving a sigh and giving in. 'No.'

Galinda smirked.

'I just hate being confused.'

'We all know that.'

'And so I avoid the source of my confusion.'

A new realisation hit Galinda. 'Which is why you have been avoiding Fiyero all these months.'

No answer came.

'Isn't it?' she insisted.

Another sigh. 'Yes,' the raven-haired girl admitted softly.

'Because you love him too.' It wasn't a question, merely a statement. Galinda's eyes sparkled as the truth hit her. 'Oh my Oz, you love him too!' She started bouncing. 'I'm the best matchmaker _ever_!'

One look from her friend shut her up – for a clock-tick, at least. Then she started talking again. 'So what are you going to do now? Kiss him? Are you going to date? Be, you know, an _item_?'

Elphaba sat up. 'No.'

Galinda looked confused. 'Then what are you going to do?'

'Nothing,' the green girl said simply. 'I'm not going to do anything. He doesn't know and he never will know, either.'

Now the blonde stared at her friend as if Elphaba had suddenly grown two heads. 'Are you _insane_? You love him and he loves you back!'

'No, he doesn't.' Elphaba shook her head. 'He's a prince, Lin. Princes don't fall in love with frogs. They fall in love with princesses.'

Galinda didn't say anything, and when the raven-haired girl looked at her friend, she saw that the blonde was wearing a smug expression on her face. 'That's a funny thing for you to say, Elphie.'

The green girl looked confused. 'Why?'

Galinda smirked. 'Well, you know. He's a prince, and since your Dad is going to marry his mother, who happens to be a Queen, that would kind of make you…'

Elphaba shot her a look.

'A princess,' finished Galinda, still wearing her smirk. 'So I'm afraid your point is invalid.'

Elphaba rolled her eyes. 'Do you even know what 'invalid' means?'

Galinda stuck out her tongue. 'You're changing the subject. Why can't you just accept the fact that he loves you?'

'Because he doesn't, Lin,' Elphaba said tiredly. 'It's not possible. Period. It was a misunderstanding. I'm even surprised he likes me as a friend – it's more than I could have ever dreamed of, you know? To have friends. But to have him love me… that's just impossible. I wasn't born for love. Just look at me – how could someone, anyone, let alone someone like _him_, ever love _me_?' She got up from the bed and headed towards the door. 'I'm going to bed now. Thanks, Galinda. For the makeover, and for… you know. Everything. You're a good friend.' Then she slipped out of the room, leaving her best friend completely speechless.

* * *

The next day, Elphaba took her sister to town. Nessa wanted to go out and buy some shoes that matched the dress she would wear to the wedding – one of the dresses Galinda bought her. Galinda decided to join them, arguing that a girl could never have enough clothes and shoes. Boq, playing the dutiful boyfriend, came along as well, but he didn't want to be the only guy around; so he in turn asked Paro, with whom he had developed an early stage friendship over the past few days. Laoyar and Moss, however, didn't want to give Paro the opportunity to be around Galinda all day and seduce her, so they decided to come as well, at which Fiyero threw his hands in the air in exasperation and declared that he wasn't going to stay at home all by himself. That was why all eight of them set out for town that early afternoon.

Galinda and Nessarose were both in an extraordinarily good mood, chattering on about the colours and types of dresses they wanted to wear and what kind of jewellery and shoes they were going to buy. Boq looked a bit sullen and just agreed with everything his girlfriend said. Paro, Laoyar and Moss were still swooning over Galinda, eagerly answering all her rhetorical questions about her appearance with reassurances that she looked amazing, no matter what she wore or which colour lipstick she'd use. Elphaba herself just pushed Nessa's chair, half-listening to the conversation, but keeping quiet herself.

Fiyero bit his lip as he saw where she had positioned herself. Whether she had done it consciously or not, he noticed that she and Nessa were walking with Boq on their one side and Galinda on the other, and with the three other boys buzzing around the blonde girl like bees around honey, Fiyero didn't get the opportunity to come anywhere near Elphaba. He tried to tell himself that it was just a coincidence, that she wasn't avoiding him, but deep down, he knew she was. Was it because he had scared her off by singing that song to her? Had he been too bold? Or had Galinda been wrong and did she not like him at all? He didn't know. And he couldn't ask her with all of their friends surrounding them.

'The Vinkus really is beautiful,' commented Nessa when they had almost reached town. 'The climate's a lot dryer here than it is back in Munchkinland, but I like it. The scenery's… different.'

'It's beautiful,' Elphaba agreed dreamily, looking admiringly at the olive trees and the grasslands, now and then interrupted by a glistening blue lake, around them. Fiyero smiled at her. 'I'm glad you like it.'

She blushed and looked away, which he decided to take as a hopeful sign. Galinda had seen it, too, because she waggled her eyebrows and winked at him.

They reached town and Galinda and Nessa immediately dove into a shoe store, dragging the others inside. The two girls tried on many, many different pairs of shoes, continuously asking the others what they thought of them. Boq seemed to be the only one who tried to answer seriously; Fiyero's three friends just kept telling Galinda the shoes looked _amazing _on her, no matter which ones she tried on, and Fiyero and Elphaba didn't even bother saying anything in the first place – Fiyero just ignored the other girls and watched Elphaba in what he hoped was a subtle way, while the green girl merely raised her thumb or pointed it down to indicate her opinion on the shoes, her nose buried in a book.

When they left the shoe store and ventured further into town, Elphaba discovered a book store and announced that she would be in there for the next few hours. Nessa gave her a disapproving look. 'Fabala…'

'I hate clothes,' her sister declared. 'You know that. And I already have my dress picked out, so I don't need anything new. I'd really much rather just stay here - or would you rather have me coming with you and moping all the time?'

Nessa sighed and gave in. 'Fine. We'll just go on and come back here to pick you up in an hour or two.'

Fiyero, who didn't feel like shopping for either books or shoes, managed to coax his friends into relaxing on a café terrace, so that Galinda, Nessa, and Boq continued the shoe hunt by themselves. They returned to pick up the others a few hours later, loaded with shopping bags from various stores, and they decided to have some ice cream in the park and then return to Adurin Iir.

It was a large park, with small lakes and streams with bridges over them, and plenty of benches where old people sat feeding birds or where couples sat making out. They all enjoyed their ice cream in the sun and Elphaba felt herself relax.

Galinda nudged her rib cage. 'Are you listening to me?'

'No,' said Elphaba drily, making the others laugh. Galinda pouted. 'I was telling you about the accessories I bought to match my dress!'

'Which is exactly why I wasn't listening.'

Galinda slapped her friend's arm half-heartedly. 'Sometimes I wonder why I even bother.'

'Sometimes I do, too,' Elphaba grinned, before getting up. 'I'm going for a little walk. I'll be back in ten minutes or so.'

'Don't go too far!' Nessa called after her. Fiyero bent towards Galinda. 'Should I follow her?' He still wasn't sure how to best approach Elphaba, and he didn't want to blow it.

Galinda, however, shook her head. 'Normally, I would say it is a perfect opportunity for some alone time with her, but knowing Elphie, you should leave her for now. She hates shopping. She hates crowded places. She needs to be alone every now and then, to get back to herself, or something. She won't appreciate you ruining that for her.'

Fiyero nodded. 'Thanks.' He watched the raven-haired girl as she walked past one of the small lakes, looking lost in thought. Suddenly, there was a scream coming from the lake, and Elphaba's head whipped in the direction of the sound. Fiyero and the others leapt to their feet as well, alarmed, and ran towards the lake. When they came closer, Fiyero discovered who had screamed and why: a small child had apparently fallen off one of the bridges and into the lake, and a woman whom he presumed to be the mother stood on the water side, looking absolutely frantic.

Before anyone else could react, Elphaba was already in the water, paddling towards the child.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Thanks for the lovely reviews!**

**And yes, the song. Because I love it and I want it played on my own wedding day. It seemed fitting :3.**

**No, Bubble, Elphaba is not allergic to water in this one ^_^. Otherwise, this would be a very short story, since I think she'd be dead if she were allergic to water, then jumped in a lake. Would have been interesting, but not really nice.**

* * *

Despite the season, the water was pretty cold, and Elphaba shivered as she swam as fast as she could towards the little girl. The child was crying, 'Help me!'

'Ssh, I'm right here,' the raven-haired girl tried to reassure her. 'Wrap your arms around my neck and hold on tight, okay? I'm going to take you back to your Mommy.'

'Okay,' the girl said in a quivering voice and Elphaba swam back to shore, carrying the little girl with her through the water on her back. Her ankle was throbbing – she had probably taken a misstep when running to the lake, but that wasn't important now. First she needed to save the girl. She swam to shore, where the mother was pacing up and down, still crying. When Elphaba reached the side of the lake and pushed the little girl onto the safe land, she ran straight for her mother, who lifted her up in her arms and crushed her daughter to her chest. The woman looked at the green girl climbing out of the water, dripping wet, and said in a shaking voice, 'Thank you so much.'

Elphaba smiled wearily. 'No problem.'

Just then, her friends caught up with her, all talking at the same time, with Galinda screeching above everything, 'Oh my Oz, Elphie, are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' she said, but her teeth were chattering and her lips were turning blue – she was shivering all over. Fiyero managed to get a nice elderly couple to give him the blanket they had been sitting on, and he carefully put it around Elphaba's shoulders. 'Here.'

She gave him a smile, teeth still clattering. 'Thanks.'

Without thinking about it, he started to rub her arms with the blanket, trying to get her warm. She tensed at first, but after a while she relaxed, even leaned a little bit into him. 'Are you sure you're okay?'

She nodded, but when Galinda flung herself at the green girl in a hug and Elphaba stumbled backwards, she gave a small yelp of pain. Galinda immediately let go and Fiyero was by her side in a clock-tick. 'What's wrong?'

'It's my ankle,' she said, making a painful face. 'I think I sprained it or something. It's nothing, though. I can walk.'

When she tried to put weight on her foot, however, she blanched visibly, and Boq shook his head. 'There's no way you're walking on that ankle.'

'I'll carry you,' offered Laoyar, with a wink and a mock seductive smile, and Moss pushed him aside. 'I'm stronger than he is. If he carries you, he'll probably drop you. _I'll _carry you.'

Elphaba looked exasperated. 'I don't need anyone to carry me!'

'Would you at least let one of us support you, then?' asked Fiyero, and she consented grudgingly. 'Fine. If you insist.'

He held out his arm invitingly, not really expecting her to use _him _as her personal crutch, and so he was surprised when she did. She wrapped one arm around his shoulders and tried to steady herself. Paro quickly rushed to her other side, so that she could wrap her other arm around his shoulder, and that way she managed to find her balance and hop towards the main road. With Fiyero and Paro occupied, Laoyar and Moss were left to carry Galinda's bags – something they resented up until the moment the bubbly blonde patted them both on the head and said, 'Thank you, guys! You're so sweet!' After that, they carried the bags with pride.

Boq pushed Nessa's chair so that she was right beside her sister. 'Fabala, you know this isn't working.'

'Is too,' said Elphaba stubbornly, hopping along. Nessa rolled her eyes. 'Why don't you just stop being stubborn, swallow your pride, and let one of the boys carry you?'

'Because,' Elphaba said through clenched teeth, 'I am perfectly capable of walking myself.' Nessa threw her an extremely sceptical look and she scowled at her younger sister. 'I _am_, Nessa.'

'Uh-uh,' the girl in the wheelchair said sarcastically – a rare thing for her, but she managed to pull it off almost as well as her sister. '_Perfectly _capable.'

When Elphaba stumbled, Fiyero stopped. 'That's enough of this.' He knew she probably wouldn't appreciate what he was about to do, but he didn't want her making her injury even worse by trying to walk on that ankle, so he scooped her up into his arms and carried her.

She swatted at his chest. 'Put me down!'

'Nope.'

Her teeth were chattering again, and Paro carefully tucked the blanket closer around her. 'Better?'

She grumbled. 'I feel like a baby.'

The boys laughed at that, and Galinda giggled. 'I think you look extremely cute, Elphie.' That earned her a death glare.

Fiyero carried her all the way back to Adurin Iir, and when they reached the castle, Lori and Frex came rushing outside. 'We saw you arrive from the window,' the Queen explained, slightly out of breath. 'What happened?'

'Nothing,' Elphaba grunted. She swatted at Fiyero's chest again until he put her down, but he kept his arm around her waist to steady her. She glared at him, but he didn't give in.

'She saved a little girl,' said Galinda with an admiring look at her friend and Lori's eyes widened. 'What?'

Paro explained what had happened. 'We think she sprained her ankle. She can't walk on it.'

Elphaba opened her mouth, but Nessa cut her off with a stern look. '_No_, Fabala. We both know you can't walk on it!' She looked at her father in mild exasperation. 'Does stubbornness run in the family?'

Frex's mind showed him flashes of memories of Melena and he swallowed difficultly. 'Actually, it does,' he spoke quietly, even though it had been a rhetorical question and neither of his daughters had really expected him to answer it.

Both Nessa and Elphaba looked at him with slight curiosity, but neither of them questioned the Governor further. 'I'll take you upstairs, to your room,' Fiyero said to Elphaba, but she would have none of it. 'I'm not an invalid! I refuse to stay cooped up in my room from now on because you guys insist on being overprotective!'

Now Fiyero looked sheepish. 'Sorry.'

Lori looked at them. 'Yero, take her to her room and make sure she puts on some dry clothes. I'll get Doctor Iaden here.'

Fiyero nodded and before she could protest, he lifted Elphaba up in his arms again and carried her upstairs to her room, where he carefully put her down on her good foot. She glowered at him. 'Would you stop doing that?!'

'Lifting you up or putting you down?'

Her glare intensified.

'No, I won't stop carrying you,' he then told her a bit too cheerfully, and she narrowed her eyes. Galinda then came skipping into the room. 'Fiyero, shoo! She can't dress herself on one foot and I'm not going to let _you _dress her. That would be _so _inappropriate.'

Elphaba looked positively exasperated by now. '_You're_ not going to dress me either, Galinda! I can dress myself!' Just the mere thought of her friends helping her get dressed mortified her. 'Now get out of here, both of you!'

They lingered, but complied eventually and she locked the door behind them – just to be sure. She hopped over to her closet and picked out a clean dress to wear, then carefully changed clothes. She managed to go and get a towel from the bathroom, with which she dried her hair, before she opened the door again and shot Fiyero and Galinda, who were both waiting just outside her room, a glare. 'Are you done stalking me now?'

They entered the room behind the green girl, both deciding not to answer that, and Lori and the doctor arrived mere clock-ticks later. 'Hello, Miss Elphaba,' doctor Iaden said, clearing his throat a bit awkwardly and clearly trying his hardest not to stare at her skin. 'I've been told you sprained your ankle. Let me have a look at it.'

He examined her, then decided the ankle was indeed sprained. He wrapped it up tightly and told her that she should not put any weight on it for at least the next week. She was fine otherwise, he declared, but if they noticed anything unusual about her, they should call him immediately.

Fiyero thanked him and saw him out, and Lori and Galinda both looked at the green girl with satisfaction. 'So, Elphie, no running around for at least a week,' Galinda reminded her smugly. 'Oh my, is that going to be hard for you.'

Elphaba glowered at her and Lori smiled. 'I'm glad you're okay, Elphaba. That was a really brave thing you did.'

Elphaba blushed. 'It was nothing.' Suddenly, her eyes widened. 'Oh… the wedding is in three days! Father will kill me!'

Lori looked disapproving. 'Elphaba, sweetheart, if he is going to _blame _you for saving a little girl, then I'm going to have a long, long talk with him. I've seen the way he treats you before, and I don't like it. I talked to him about it, but he won't hear any of it…' She shook her head slightly. 'Anyhow, don't you worry about your father, Elphaba. I'll deal with him. And we'll find a way for you to be at the wedding.'

Galinda jumped onto the bed and hugged her friend. 'Consider yourself lucky – with that sprained ankle, I'm not going to force you into high heels for the wedding!'

Elphaba chuckled. 'Thank Oz for that.'

Galinda stuck out her tongue.

* * *

The two women helped her downstairs then and into the living room, where a small fire was blazing in the fireplace. They sat Elphaba down in an armchair and everyone gathered around the fireplace, with Lori wanting to hear the entire story and Frex pretending to care as well, even though Elphaba knew he didn't. She knew he wouldn't be proud of her, or worried about her; he would probably be mad because she wouldn't be able to walk on his wedding day, as she had told Lori before. She appreciated the effort he put in pretending, however. It showed that he did, to some extent, care about the Queen that would soon become his wife – he cared enough not to want to anger her by treating his daughter like rubbish.

Most of them had dinner in the dining room, as usual; Fiyero and Galinda, however, took their plates and an extra one to the living room to sit with Elphaba as they ate. Right after dinner, Galinda declared it was time for her friend to rest and Fiyero lifted her up again and carried her upstairs.

As they reached the top of the stairs, however, Elphaba started squirming. 'I refuse to be put to bed like a small child,' she declared as she wriggled herself free from Fiyero grip and hopped away from him. 'It's not even nine yet! I'm not going to sleep!'

Fiyero caught up with her and walked next to her, adjusting his tempo to hers. 'So what do you want to do?'

She glared at him. 'Something that doesn't involve anyone staring at me as if I might drop dead any moment?'

He quickly looked away. 'Sorry.'

She smirked. 'Well, you could escort me to my room, I suppose. There's something I wanted to talk to you about, anyway,' she continued, hopping on one foot through the corridor. 'Since it's our parents who are going to be married, I think we have to do something at the wedding. Or, well, Nessa thinks so. She's going to play the harp – she does that beautifully – but I'm not sure what I should do. I thought I'd ask you for ideas.'

He felt just the tiniest bit proud that she was asking for his opinion on something. Plus… it got him a brilliant idea. 'Actually, I thought of something.'

She looked up at him expectantly and he said simply, 'A song.'

Her expression became a bit confused. 'You're going to sing a song? Or play one?'

'I'm going to sing one.' He looked at her smugly. 'And you're going to sing it with me.'

She blanched and stepped – hopped – away. 'Oh, no. Not a chance in the world.'

'It'll be wonderful!'

'You mean like… like a duet?'

He beamed at her. 'Exactly!'

She shook her head. 'I don't sing.'

'I overheard you when you were singing to Nessa,' he said quietly and she flushed. 'You were _eavesdropping _on me?!'

'I wasn't eavesdropping!' he defended himself. 'I just happened to hear it and… and Fae, it was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.'

She blushed deeply at that, but tried to hide it by shaking her hair in front of her face. 'Don't be such an idiot, Fiyero. I sang for my sick sister once. Big deal. I'm not that good, and I'm not planning on singing in front of an audience, thank you very much.'

'It's perfect!' Fiyero insisted. 'Fae, _believe _me when I say you have a beautiful voice. My Mom will love it! And so will your Dad, I'm sure.'

She snorted. 'I'm not.'

He stepped in front of her and looked at her pleadingly. 'Please?'

She sighed. 'Fiyero…'

He threw in his lost-puppy-look, the look that always seemed to work on her, and sure enough, she sighed again and gave in. 'Fine. I'll sing the stupid duet with you.'

He threw his arms around her. 'Thank you!'

She amazed both him and herself by not pushing him away immediately. She blushed an even darker shade of red when she realised she actually kind of liked the feeling of being in his arms, but she shook that off quickly. She couldn't allow herself to think like that. It'd only hurt.

They reached her room and she beckoned him inside, then positioned herself cross-legged on her bed. 'So what song are we going to sing?'

He sat himself down in a chair beside the bed and flashed her a mischievous grin. 'A love song would be most appropriate.'

She scowled at him. 'No.'

'Fae, it's a wedding. We _must _do a love song.'

She imagined herself singing a love song with Fiyero. Oh, Oz, this was torture. She took a deep breath. 'So what love song did you have in mind?'

His grin widened. 'Let's try out a few.'

* * *

It took them a while, but they finally managed to pick a song. It was a beautiful one, Elphaba had to admit; it wasn't originally a duet, but they'd turned it into one because it was just perfect for a wedding. They agreed to practice it the next day in the musical room of the castle; Elphaba would accompany herself and Fiyero on the piano, since she already knew the song and it would be easier for her if she could sit down, what with her ankle and all. Fiyero then left, insisting she get some rest. Elphaba, however, snuck out of her room and into Galinda's.

The blonde scowled at her as she came in. 'Elphie, you're supposed to be-'

'Couldn't sleep.'

Galinda's frown deepened. 'Did you even try?'

'No,' Elphaba said cheerfully. She hopped over to the bed and plopped down on it. 'Fiyero and I are going to sing a duet at the wedding.'

Galinda beamed at her. 'That's such an amazifying idea! Fiyero's Mom will be thrillified! And your Dad… um…' She faltered. 'Well… him too, I… guess.'

Elphaba smirked at her. 'I'm used to it, Galinda. I know he won't care much. But I do believe Fiyero's Mom will like it, and I like her, so I'll just do it for her. And for Nessa – she wants me to do something for the wedding… and she loves it when I sing,' she added softly, remembering the times when she had sang for Nessa, when they had both been little girls.

Galinda sat herself down on the bed next to her friend and dangled her legs back and forth. 'Should I do something, too?'

'If you want to,' said Elphaba. 'But you're not an 'official' part of the family, so you don't _have _to.' She made a face. 'Lucky you.'

Galinda nudged her in the side with her elbow. 'I'm sure singing with Fiyero isn't going to be _that _bad!'

Elphaba glowered at her. 'Yes it is.'

'Perhaps you'll finally get somewhere that way,' Galinda went on cheerfully. 'You know, he likes you, you like him, you sing a love song together…'

'He doesn't like me.'

Galinda rolled her eyes. 'You, my dear Elphie, are _so _blind.'

'He doesn't,' Elphaba insisted. 'He never could.'

'Blind _and _stubborn.'

'It's not stubbornness, it's-'

'And a complete idiot,' Galinda finished, ignoring her friend. 'Really, Elphie, sometimes you drive me crazy. Why can't you just accept the fact that he likes you?'

Elphaba let herself fall flat on her back on the bed. 'We've been over this, remember? Different subject, please.' A grin spread across her face and she lifted her head to look at Galinda. 'Like… how are things going between you and your not-so-secret admirers?'

Galinda blushed a bright shade of pink and Elphaba laughed. 'I knew it! Which one are you into?'

Galinda's blush deepened. 'None of them. I just like them – you know, as in, friends, or something.'

'Yeah, right,' Elphaba said mock seriously. 'Of course you do. You may think I'm blind, but I'm not _that _blind. You like Paro.'

Galinda flushed even brighter. 'No I don't. Different subject.'

Elphaba stuck out her tongue and Galinda threw a pillow at her friend. '_Different subject!_ Or no, I have a better idea. I'm going to go to the bathroom now and put on my pyjamas, you borrow a nightgown of mine and we're going to have a sleepover! Just like Shiz! My nightgowns are in that closet over there – just pick one!' With that, she darted into the bathroom and Elphaba shook her head, smiling. She hopped over towards the closet and changed into one of Galinda's nightgowns – a light blue one, because practically all the other ones were pink. Then she sat back down on the bed to wait for her friend.

She heard a rustling sound and looked up to see a slit of paper being shoved under the door. She grinned and pushed herself up, hopping over to the door to pick up the envelope. 'Lin?'

'Yes?' Galinda answered from behind the bathroom door.

Elphaba's grin widened. 'There's a love letter for you. Someone just slipped an envelope under your bedroom door.'

Galinda was silent for a while. Then she asked, 'What does it say?'

The green girl turned the piece of paper around and read what the back said. The words made her involuntarily snort with laughter. '"To my honey bunny sweetie pie". Does that tell you anything?'

A sigh from the other side of the door. 'Laoyar.'

Elphaba snickered. 'Seriously?'

Galinda yanked open the door and poked her head out to glare at her friend. 'Yes. Seriously. Laoyar always calls me something like 'honeybun' or 'sweetie pie'. If the envelop says 'Linny', it's from Paro, and if it says 'cupcake' or 'pumpkin', it's Moss.'

Elphaba fell back on the bed, doubling over with laughter. 'Oh, Oz!'

Galinda scowled at her. 'Not funny!'

'Oh, I'm sorry, honey bunny sweetie pie!' Elphaba snorted before bursting into another fit of laughter. Galinda rushed out of the bathroom, grabbed a pillow from the window seat and started hitting her friend with it. 'Elphaba Melena Thropp, you are one _dead _roommate!'

* * *

The morning before the wedding, Galinda came running to Elphaba's room, squealing. She jumped on the bed and flung her arms around her friend. 'Elphie! He asked me to be his date to the wedding!'

'Which one?' Elphaba asked with a grin. 'Wait, let me rephrase that – did 'he' ask you 'would you be my date to the wedding, Linny?' or 'would you be my date to the wedding, my sweetie darling honey bun?' or 'would you be my date to the wedding, my pumpkin cupcake?'

Galinda whacked her with a pillow once again. 'Shut up, Elphie. It was Paro.'

Elphaba smirked. 'Ah. That explains the glow.'

'I'm not glowing!' Galinda protested, but Elphaba just stared at her pointedly until she gave in. 'Fine. Perhaps I like Paro the tiniest little bit.'

Elphaba patted her arm. 'See? That wasn't too hard to admit.'

Galinda scowled at her. 'Well, then, why don't you return the favour and admit that you like Fiyero?'

Elphaba jumped up, nearly stumbling when she accidentally put too much weight on her injured ankle. 'I'm going to change now. I'll be in the bathroom,' she said, yanking a dress from her closet and hiding in the bathroom.

Galinda smirked at the closed door. 'You can't hide forever, Elphie! Especially not from your own feelings!' She paused and when no reply came, she decided to let the subject slide. 'So what kind of dress are you going to wear?'

'You'll see,' came Elphaba's voice, muffled by the closed bathroom door. Galinda frowned. 'Can I at least do your hair and make-up?'

A grumble. 'If you insist.'

'Yay!' Galinda clapped her hands. 'Wait just a clock-tick, okay? I'm going to put on my own dress and I'll bring my make-up and hair thingies here so that we can make ourselves pretty together!'

'Yay!' came the very sarcastic reply from the bathroom, in a voice that sounded suspiciously like Galinda's own. The blonde scowled at the bathroom door. 'You're awful, Elphie.'

'Why, thank you.'

Galinda skipped out of the room and into her own, where she changed into the pale pink dress she decided on wearing to the wedding. The skirt reached her knees and it had lots of ruffles and lace and gemstones and beads and tulle decorating it. She put on her matching pale pink shoes and collected her make-up and hair accessories; then she ran back to Elphaba's room.

The green girl had just come out of the bathroom, wearing her dress, and Galinda gasped softly. 'Oh, Elphie…'

Elphaba turned around, uncertainly studying her mirror image. 'Does it clash? Is it horrible?'

Galinda shook her head, struck speechless. 'Elphie… you look amazing.'

Her friend was wearing one of the dresses Galinda herself had given her as a present – a silver one, strapless and long, with silvery rhinestones decorating the tight-fitting bodice and twirling down around her skirt to the floor. The blonde squealed softly. 'Elphaba, look at you…' she said quietly. 'You're beautiful.'

Elphaba turned around with a faint smile gracing her lips, both girls remembering the last time Galinda had said that – the night they became friends. The green girl hugged her friend. 'Thank you, Lin.'

'You're welcome,' Galinda said in a thick voice. She shook her head in an attempt to clear it. 'Now, come on – I'll do your hair and make-up.'

The ceremony was held in the giant ballroom of the castle, and afterwards, there was dinner and toasts and guests making speeches. Nessa played her harp beautifully and Elphaba smiled at her when her sister wheeled herself back to the table. Nessa returned her smile.

Then it was Elphaba's and Fiyero's turn. Galinda squeezed her hand and whispered, 'Good luck', and Elphaba smiled a bit bleakly at her before allowing Fiyero to help her to the piano. She wasn't wearing heels, but even in flat shoes, it was hard to hop around – not to mention incredibly ungraceful, which had been Galinda's main concern. Fiyero, however, slipped his arm around her waist and supported her, thus allowing her to get to the piano without looking too ridiculous.

She gingerly sat herself down on the piano bench and took a deep breath, meeting Fiyero's eyes for a moment. He gave her an encouraging smile and she exhaled. Then she started to play.

Fiyero watched in awe as her long, slender green fingers danced gracefully over the piano keys. She had told him once that she could play, but he had never seen her play and he thought it was an amazing sight. She seemed to forget everything and everyone around her, losing herself in the music; then she opened her mouth and began to sing.

'_What if I told you, it was all meant to be._'

His gaze was fixated on her, and for once, she didn't even seem to notice. She had closed her eyes as she was singing and playing, and he was staring at her openly.

'_It's almost that feeling that we've met before.'_

There was a reason he had picked this song – insisted on it, actually. Yes, it was a beautiful song, and yes, it was perfect for a wedding; but he hadn't had the wedding in mind. He had thought about him and Elphaba. And somehow, he had hoped that singing this song with her would perhaps change something between them.

She sang the chorus, and Fiyero couldn't help but notice with a faint smile that everyone had fallen silent. Then she stopped and opened her eyes to look at him, and he had to force himself to look away and start singing his own verse.

'_Everything changes, but beauty remains._' He couldn't help but look at her again at the word 'beauty'. She noticed, and she purposefully avoided his gaze, but he didn't mind. He knew she had issues with people calling her beautiful – Galinda had told him that back when they had been dating, and he had noticed it ever since. However, he was determined to convince her that she was, indeed, beautiful – inside and out.

If only he could get her to love him back.

He finished his verse, and they sang the rest of the song together, her completely caught up in the song and the music, and him… well, completely caught up in _her_.

'_For a moment like this_

_Some people wait a lifetime_

_For a moment like this_

_Some people search forever._'

He looked at her as he sang, and as if she could feel his eyes on her, she looked up. They eyes met and he felt that strange flutter in his stomach again.

'_Some people wait a lifetime…'_

She stared back at him, finding herself unable to tear her gaze from his. _Don't be ridiculous, Thropp_, she scolded herself silently. _Galinda's right – you're a complete idiot. Only not for the reasons she thinks._

'_For a moment… like this.'_

The song was over. Complete silence filled the room, but they didn't even notice, their eyes still locked. She saw something there, in those sky blue depths of his – something she couldn't explain. Her breath caught in her throat…

…and then, everyone started applauding enthusiastically, Fiyero's friends whistling and calling their names, Galinda, Nessa, and Lori all dabbing at their eyes and smiling at the same time. Elphaba broke away then, looking at the wedding guests instead of at Fiyero. He sighed heavily, realising he'd held his breath for the past few moments; then he rose and smiled at everyone, helping Elphaba up and taking a bow a she curtsied gingerly. Then he carefully led her back to her seat and sat down himself, accepting the congratulotions from his friends and family with a smile.

Moss slapped his back. 'That was awesome, Yero. Didn't know you could sing that well – although I must say, your performance kind of paled in comparison to Elphaba's.'

Fiyero's grin only widened. 'I know.'


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Have I mentioned already that I love you guys? (Not in a creepy way.) Really, your reviews always make my day! And today I was surprised to find a Dutch one among them - thank you so much, Lisa! Reviews like yours are what always makes me do this stupid little dance with giddiness because they confirm that some people actually _like _what I'm writing - which is awesome, amazing and totally thrillifying.**

**You're going to hate me after this chapter. Just a warning. You're going to hate me after the next chapter even more. That's what happens when I decide to put in some drama - you guys hating me. But trust me when I say that it'll all be all right in the end :D.**

* * *

The next morning, he found her sitting on a wooden bench in the gardens.

His first reaction was to scold her for going out by herself with her injured ankle, but he knew she wouldn't really appreciate that – and he know how stubborn she was – so he let it go. She looked up as he approached her and she smiled at him. 'Hey.'

'Hey,' he said, sitting down on the bench next to her. He followed her gaze. She had been watching the sunrise, he realised. He remembered telling her about it back at Shiz, sunrise in the Vinkus, and somehow, he felt touched that she had remembered it and wanted to see it for herself. 'It's incredibly early, you know,' he said.

She chuckled softly. 'I know. I'm always up early – this was only a little earlier than usual.' She looked at him. 'What about you? Galinda says you always sleep in - normally, you can't even drag yourself from your bed in time for class at noon!'

He grinned at her. 'That's because class is boring. Watching sunrises in the Vinkus is not. When I'm here, at home, I usually rise before sunset, just so that I can watch it.'

Her face softened. 'I don't blame you. It's beautiful.' She looked back at the grasslands, where the sun was slowly rising in an explosion of orange, pink, gold, red, and yellow. Fiyero bent forward to rummage around in his bag and pulled out a flask. 'Have you had breakfast already?'

She shook her head, and he showed her the flask and the fruit he had brought with him. 'I usually bring breakfast out,' he explained a bit sheepishly, meanwhile pulling out two cups and pouring some tea from the flask into them. 'After watching the sunrise… I never feel much like joining my family for breakfast. It'd spoil the magic, you know?' He handed her a cup and she took it. She smiled at him. 'Thank you.'

They both sat there, quietly sipping their tea, until Fiyero said softly, 'I didn't really get the chance to tell you earlier, but… That was a really brave thing you did the other day. Saving that little girl.'

She looked up at him in surprise, then shook her head. 'It's what anyone would have done,' she said modestly. 'It wasn't anything special.'

'It's not what anyone would have done,' he insisted. 'There were people all around, and yet you were the only one to jump in that lake and save the girl. Don't brush this off, Fae,' he said gently, tilting her head a little to look at him. 'It _was _brave.'

She blushed and averted her eyes. He let go of her and to make her feel a little less uncomfortable, handed her an apple. 'Here.'

She took it gratefully. 'Thank you.'

They watched together as the sun slowly rose above the grasslands, both lost in thought. After a while, Elphaba sighed. 'I should get back. Nessa probably needs me soon to help her bathe and get dressed.'

Fiyero stared at her. 'Are you saying that even with a sprained ankle, you're still playing Nessa's servant?'

She bristled at that. 'I'm not her servant, I'm her sister! Of course I don't stop caring for Nessa because of a stupid sprained ankle! She _needs _me!'

'We have maids and servants who can do that,' he pointed out, but she shook her head. 'She wants me to do it.' Her gaze softened. 'Do you have any idea how humiliating it is to be completely helpless? To rely on other people for _everything_? To not be able to even _bathe _and _dress _by yourself?'

Fiyero imagined that and shuddered. He had never thought about it that way, which he felt slightly ashamed of. It couldn't be easy for Nessa. Perhaps that was also why Elphaba always insisted on being independent and doing everything by herself – because she saw every day what it was like to be helpless and rely on others. 'No, I don't.'

'Me neither,' she said, 'but I can imagine it. And I want to make this as easy as possible for her, Yero. Life is hard enough for her the way it is.' She pushed herself up and Fiyero shot forward, steadying her. She glared at him. 'Fiyero-'

'Don't worry, I'm not going to carry you,' he said jokingly, earning him a punch in the shoulder. He grimaced. 'Ouch. Just, Elphaba… I want to help you. We all do – Galinda, Boq, my Mom… even Laoyar, Moss, and Paro. I _know _you're capable of getting back inside on your own, but that's completely beside the point.'

She narrowed her eyes at him. 'What _is _the point, then?' she asked pointedly.

'That you're too stubborn to accept help from anyone,' he said. 'And that there is nothing wrong with allowing other people to help you every now and then.'

She sighed, grumbled, then linked her arm with his so that she could lean on him. 'Better?'

'Much,' he said with a lopsided grin in her direction – a grin that made her stomach twitch and he mouth go dry. She swallowed. 'Fine, then.'

They walked in silence for a while before she asked, 'Are they going on a honeymoon? My father and Lori?'

Fiyero shrugged. 'She said something to me about that, but they weren't sure yet. I'll ask her next time I see her.'

And he did – he left Elphaba with Nessa and went in search for his Mom. He found her in the library and sat down opposite her. 'Hey, Mom.'

She looked up from her papers and smiled at him. 'Good morning, Yero. Have you been sleeping well?'

'Fine.' He plucked at the carvings in the table. 'I watched the sunrise this morning.' Another pause as he drew patterns on the wood, avoiding his mothers gaze. 'With Elphaba.'

He could _feel _her smirking at him and he grumbled. 'And no, nothing happened – besides the fact that she seems to be able again to have a normal conversation with me and act as if we're friends, which is a huge step forward compared to the start of the summer.'

His mother took his hand and squeezed it gently. 'I'm proud of you, Yero.'

His head shot up and he stared at her in confusion. 'What? Why?'

She smiled. 'I've never seen you put so much effort in something – anything, really.'

He glared at her. 'Thanks, Mom,' he said sarcastically, and she laughed. 'That's not my point, Yero. My point is that you're trying. You're really doing your best to make this work. And that's why I'm proud of you. I've seen you with those silly girls in the past, honey, the ones that didn't mean anything to you. Back then, you would have given up ages ago – you'd never go through so much trouble to make any of them like you. You never even cared about any of them. You've changed, because of Elphaba, and that's why I'm proud of you – because you're finally growing up.'

He huffed. 'I'm not sure if I should feel flattered or offended.'

Lori leaned forward and patted his cheek with a mischievous grin. 'A little bit of both, darling. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?'

* * *

Elphaba looked up from her book as he slumped down in a chair next to hers. 'And?'

'They're still not sure,' he replied. 'They'd like to spend some time alone, to get to know each other – after all, it's been an arranged marriage and they don't know that much about one another… but right now, things are too hectic here to just leave.' He bit his lower lip. 'She says there's been an outbreak of yellow fever in the Northern Vinkus.'

Elphaba drew in her breath sharply. 'Yellow fever? Is it spreading?'

He shook his head. 'Not yet. But it's a hot and dry summer, and there are lots of mosquitoes – they spread the disease… if the temperatures don't drop soon, it might become an epidemic.'

Elphaba remembered an outbreak of yellow fever back in Munchkinland once, when she had been about six years old. The disease had demanded quite some lives back then and she remembered how scared she had been, especially when Nessa and herself also contracted it. They'd both lived through it, however, without any permanent damage being done. Once you've had yellow fever and survived it, you became immune, which meant she and Nessa couldn't get sick again; but that didn't mean she wasn't worried about the others. About Galinda, Boq, Lori, Fiyero, his friends… even about Frex – to some extent, anyway.

Fiyero leaned forward and squeezed her hand reassuringly. 'Don't worry, Fae, we'll be fine. We've had outbreaks before – it's just a consequence of living in a warm and dry place like the Vinkus. Usually, those outbreaks stay limited to a small part of the Vinkus and don't spread any further.' Hi sighed and looked out the window, lost in thought. 'From that perspective, the Vinkus isn't such a great place to live – we have lots of epidemics because of the weather… fever outbreaks in the summer, and lung diseases in winter…' His voice trailed off and Elphaba instinctively knew that this had something to do with a personal matter of his. 'Your father?' she asked softly, and his head whipped around to face her. 'What?'

'I- I'm sorry,' she quickly apologised. 'I shouldn't have-'

He grabbed her wrist, as if he was afraid she would run away if he didn't stop her. 'No, no, it's fine. You don't have to apologise,' he said, letting go of her wrist then and rubbing his forehead. 'It's just… well… I'm still not used to you seeing right through me all the time,' he admitted, and she smiled slightly. 'What can I say? It's a gift.'

He grinned faintly at her. 'Yeah… I guess I shouldn't be surprised anymore.' He sighed and ran his fingers through his short sandy hair. 'Yes, my father. He… he got infected with tuberculosis in late autumn. It was so cold here already, Mom said it even snowed, and… and many people got sick. My father among them…' He looked out of the window again, looking as if his thoughts were miles away. 'It was a severe form,' he said then, his voice barely above a whisper. 'He died within a month or so. I wasn't there… I came over for the funeral, but I wasn't there. I hadn't seen him since I left for Shiz at the end of the summer.' He swallowed. 'I just… I wish I had seen him one more time before he…' He buried his face in his hands then, trying to calm himself. He felt Elphaba's hand on his shoulder and he looked up. She was gazing at him with her all-knowing dark eyes, sympathy visible inside them. 'I'm sorry,' she said solemnly, and somehow, that did him more good than all the sympathy he had received from others. He gave her a half-hearted smile. 'Thank you.' He took a deep breath and shook his head. 'Anyway… it doesn't really matter. Everybody dies, right?'

Anger flashed in her chocolate eyes. 'Don't do that, Fiyero. Don't push it away and pretend it doesn't matter. It does. And you're allowed to grieve.'

'I know,' he said quietly. 'It's just… it hurts, of course it does, but it's also… frustrating.' He struggled finding the right words to explain it to her, but he felt like he wasn't making sense at all, so he was very surprised when she worded his thoughts exactly. 'You're mad at him for leaving you.'

He looked at her in mild amazement. 'Yeah.'

She smiled sadly. 'I was only three when my mother died, but I do know how it feels, Yero. I was mad at her for years. I felt as if she had abandoned me…' She exhaled slowly and shook her head. 'But in the end, you just have to deal with it, one way or another. No matter how much you miss them, no matter what you do, they're never coming back. And that hurts – a lot – but it also makes us stronger.' With that, she rose from her seat and carefully limped out of the room, leaving him alone to ponder on her words.

* * *

'Elphaba?'

She looked up from the book she had been reading and furrowed her brow when she saw Paro standing there - he didn't usually come to talk to her alone. 'Yes?'

'Can I talk to you for a clock-tick?'

'Sure,' she agreed, putting down the book and making room for him in the window seat. It had become her favourite spot in the weeks since she'd been here, this specific window seat in the back of the library; they all knew she could usually be found there, yet no one dared to disturb her – they all knew it was where she retreated when she wanted to be alone. She didn't mind Paro joining her, however. She kind of liked him – he was kind and sensible, despite his rosy-coloured impression of Galinda, and unlike his friends, he was actually capable of behaving like an adult.

He sat down with her in the window seat, not exactly far away, but not too close to her personal space either, which she appreciated. His dark eyes took her in for a moment before he spoke up. 'He really likes you, you know.'

At that, she immediately bristled. 'What are you talking about?'

The gentle look in his eyes did not change. 'I think you know.'

'No, I don't,' she insisted, her characteristic stubbornness showing. Paro merely kept looking at her. 'You've changed him,' he observed quietly. 'He wrote to us while he was at Shiz, and we all noticed it. In the middle of the school year, he changed. Only later did we find out that it had to do with a certain commotion in class – something about a Lion Cub… and the girl involved in that commotion.'

'I wasn't _involved _in that commotion, dear Paro,' she said, focusing on the easier part of his comment and resorting to sarcasm to hide her true feelings. 'I _was _that commotion.'

Paro laughed softly. 'That's not the point, Elphaba. My point is that you managed to get through to him somehow, and, well, we _all _love you for that…' She chuckled softly and he smiled. 'But _he _loves you in particular.'

'No he doesn't,' she argued, her temper flaring up. 'Have you been talking to Galinda?'

He looked sheepish. 'Well… yes,' he conceded. 'But it's not because of her that I believe he loves you, Elphaba. We've known him all his life; we've seen him go through the most horrible stages ever – including his dancing-through-life one.' He grinned a little. 'My point is… we can see how much he's changed, and we know what caused it. Why is it so difficult for you to comprehend that?'

'_Because_,' she snapped, jumping up and stumbling a little because of her injured ankle. 'No one can love me. Why is that so difficult for _you _to comprehend? Even if he thinks he _does _love me now, he'll come to his senses soon enough. He'll realise what he's done and he'll regret it. You know why? Because sooner or later, he's going to see me for what I really am – a green, sarcastic, ugly, abnormal, heartless… _aberration _that only causes pain and destruction to everyone around her!' With that, she turned around and fled the room, putting too much weight on her ankle in the process, but not even feeling the pain until she collapsed in a chair in her bedroom. She took deep breaths to calm herself. She wasn't sure what had caused her to snap at Paro; perhaps it was just that she was scared of what would happen if he were right.

_But he's not right_, she told herself. _He's not. Even if Fiyero does love me, I can't let him. Because in the end, it'll only bring him pain and misery._

She had just convinced herself of that when he entered the room – Fiyero. He looked at her in concern. 'Are you okay? I walked through the hallway and I heard you screaming.'

'I'm fine,' she spat, getting up again, but wincing at the throbbing pain in her ankle. He noticed and took hold of her arm to steady her. 'Careful.'

'I can take care of myself, thank you very much,' she snapped, still agitated because of her earlier conversation with Paro, and he backed off. 'Whoa. Sorry. I didn't mean to-'

'I know you didn't,' she grumbled, acknowledging that she was being unreasonable. She sighed and sank down onto the bed. 'I'm sorry. I'm a little…' Another sigh. 'Sorry.'

'That's okay,' he assured her, sitting down next to her. 'I heard you yelling, so I'm betting you just had a fight with someone – plus I know how much you hate being cooped up in here. How about a walk?' he suggested, his eyes brightening. 'At least it'll get you out in the fresh air.'

She conceded and let him take her down to the castle gardens, where she took a deep breath, breathing in the scent of the flowers and greenery. It was true – she hated being confined, she just needed to be outside every now and then to clear her head. 'Thank you,' she said, feeling lighter already. 'That was just what I needed.'

He smiled at her. 'No problem.' He offered her his arm and she took it, and together they walked – and limped – further down into the gardens.

They didn't speak much; they just walked, and after a while, Elphaba had calmed a little. Then Laoyar came running towards them, panting as he bent over, leaning his hands on his knees. 'Give me a moment,' he puffed, and Fiyero grinned at him. 'You know, you really need to train some more.'

Laoyar grimaced. 'Yes, yes, I should stop chasing girls and work on my shape. Got it. Um… Elphaba? Paro told me to go find you and tell you he's sorry.'

Her face hardened. 'Why? He's too much of a coward to come do it himself?' she snapped, her anger flaring up again, but Laoyar shook his head. 'Galinda dragged him to town to take him shopping, but he didn't want to leave it until tonight. I'm sure he'll apologise in person when he gets back.'

Elphaba sighed – she knew it was unfair for her to direct her anger at Paro while in reality, she was just angry with herself. 'Okay. I'm sorry, too. Thanks for telling me,' she said, and Laoyar winked at her, then ran back.

Fiyero eyed her curiously, but she held up one hand. 'Don't,' she said tiredly, before sitting herself down on the grass, pulling her knees up to her chest. 'Just… don't ask.'

'Wasn't going to,' he said, sitting down next to her, scooping a little closer. 'I do want to talk to you about something else, though.'

She eyed him warily. 'What?'

He took a deep breath. This was it. He knew he had to do this, but it scared him all the same. 'Elphaba… I… Do you remember that day with the Lion Cub?' he asked finally, and she tensed. Was this what her conversation with Paro had been about? Did Fiyero want to tell her that he loved her? Had Paro been trying to mentally prepare her for this?

_Don't be ridiculous, _a small voice in the back of her head said. _He could never love you, remember? And even if he could, you'd have to make it stop. Got it?_

She nodded numbly.

'I…' He took another deep breath – this was harder than he thought. 'I love you,' he then blurted out and she stared at him. 'Ever since the Lion Cub,' he confessed, starting to ramble. 'When you saw right through me, when you grabbed my hand that day… there was just a… a spark. And then you touched my cheek, and I wanted to kiss you, but I got scared and I ran, and… and that was the stupidest thing I've ever done. And I was still dating Galinda, only she didn't mean anything to me – not like that, I only liked her as a friend… so… so I broke up with her. And I told her why, and she got mad and I misunderstood you and thought you knew that I loved you and that's why I broke up with Galinda, but that you didn't care, so I didn't dare make a move because I was afraid you'd reject me… but then Galinda told me she was okay with you and me dating, that she was over me, and that she never told you why we broke up, so that it didn't mean you didn't love me back. And I – I tried to take it slow with you, I really did, but I just couldn't wait any longer – I felt as if I might burst if I didn't tell you and I just needed to know how you felt. So… how do you feel?'

He was panting a little after that, realizing his rambling probably hadn't made much sense to her. She was still staring at him, with those beautiful, enormous, chocolate brown eyes of hers, and he inched the tiniest bit closer and touched her arm. 'Fae?' She didn't pull away, which he took as a good sign, and he carefully slid his hand to her neck and brought her closer. He felt her relax a little, which gave him just enough courage to bridge the final inches between them and kiss-

She pulled away so suddenly he stumbled, and she leapt to her feet, looking like a frightened wild animal. 'No!'

His hopes shattered and his face fell. 'Fae… I'm sorry.'

She was shaking her head frantically. 'I can't believe you're doing this. Why are you doing this? You can't love me – you can't!'

'But I do!' he protested, rising to his feet as well. He looked at her pleadingly. 'Fae… Elphaba… If you don't feel the same way about me as I do about you… I'll respect that. I'll back off, I promise, and I won't tell you I love you ever again. But I thought… perhaps… If there is even the slightest chance that you do, or might one day, love me… just… please tell me. You're killing me right now.'

She was still staring at him. Oh, how she wanted to just run into his arms right now and kiss him, to tell him that she loved him too, to take the chance, a leap of fate. Just close her eyes and leap.

But she couldn't. She would only end up hurting him.

'I don't love you,' she whispered, fighting back tears she desperately didn't want him to see. 'I don't!' She was trying harder to convince herself than she was to convince him, but as she dashed off, ignoring her throbbing ankle and running as hard as she could, she knew that the awful, crestfallen look on his face would haunt her forever.

* * *

**Aww. Don't kill me please.**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Yes... ahem... please try to restrain yourselves. :3 Um... this chapter will probably increase your killing urges towards me. May I emphasise once again that this story _will _have a happy ending? Yeah... so... don't kill me. And don't chop off my legs, because if you do, I won't write another chapter and you'll be in the dark forever. Just a warning. **

**The song... I'm putting lots of songs in here, aren't I? I've been considering to use this song for a oneshot, because every time I hear it, it just screams 'FIYERABA!' at me, but I liked it in this story - it'll come back in the next chapter, too. **

**So... hope you like it. :3**

* * *

She succeeded in avoiding him for days after that.

She didn't want to face him. She knew what she would see in his face, in his eyes, and she didn't want to see it, knowing she had caused it. She had rejected him to prevent him from getting hurt, but by doing so, she had hurt him all the same. Still, it was for the best, she told herself. He could never be happy with her. Ever.

The others noticed that something was wrong, of course. Nessa tried to talk to her once, but Elphaba assured her younger sister that nothing was wrong, that she was just a little tired because of the wedding and the happenings of the past few weeks, and tired of being stuck inside the castle because she still couldn't walk properly. Nessa bought that excuse, knowing her sister and not finding it unlikely that this was causing her foul mood.

Galinda and Paro, however, were a lot harder to shake off.

'Elphie,' the blonde began sternly, 'You're avoiding Fiyero.'

'Yes I am,' agreed Elphaba, surprising both Paro and Galinda with her straightforwardness. Galinda looked thrown off for a moment. 'Oh. Um… well…'

'Why?' Paro chimed in, and Elphaba eyed him coolly. 'That's none of your business.'

Galinda opened her mouth and Elphaba moved her gaze to her friend. 'Or yours.'

Galinda closed her mouth.

'Elphaba,' said Paro, 'I've never seen him like this. _Please_ tell me what happened.'

Elphaba pressed her lips together in a thin line. 'I did it to keep him from getting hurt in the future.'

'He's already hurt,' Galinda pointed out, voicing exactly what Elphaba herself had been thinking so many times in the past days, and the green girl glared at her. 'If I hadn't done this, it would have been much worse in the future,' she said. 'I know he's hurt right now.' Anyone with eyes could see that, even in the few glimpses she had caught of him since their talk. 'But he'll get over it.' Eventually.

'Of course he will. That's not the point.' Paro looked at her pleadingly. 'Elphaba, he's my best friend. He won't talk to me, he's shutting me out – he's shutting us all out and I have no idea how to help him. Tell me what happened… please?'

She hesitated, but the look in his eyes made her give in and she sighed. 'He told me he loved me.'

Galinda held her breath, looking completely excited. 'And?'

'Given the fact that Fiyero is currently haunting the castle looking like a ghost, I don't think it went well, Linny,' Paro told her quietly, and her face fell. 'Oh. Yes. Good point.'

Elphaba shifted a little, looking uncomfortable. 'He tried to kiss me, but I… I couldn't,' she confessed. 'I just couldn't. So I told him I didn't love him, and then I ran off.' Somehow, she managed to sound rather matter-of-factly, while she felt so torn inside. Everything inside of her ached for what she had had to do, but she felt as if there were no other way. She didn't want him to waste his love on her. He deserved so much better than her, so much more than she could give him.

Now both of them looked utterly shocked.

'You told him you didn't _love _him?!' Galinda, who came to her senses first, shrieked. 'Elphaba Thropp, you _do _love the boy and you know it!'

'That's not the point!' snapped Elphaba. 'The point is that I'm not good for him and that's why I need to stay away! Only he would never let me do that if he knew that I _do _love him, so I… I had to lie,' she said, quietly now. 'It was the only way.'

They stared at her, dumbstruck for the moment.

'I'm cursed, Lin,' Elphaba whispered. 'You know that.'

Galinda moved towards her friend and wrapped her arms around the green girl in a fierce hug. 'Oh, Elphie…'

Paro smiled sadly at her. 'You have no idea, do you?'

She merely looked at him questioningly, frowning a little – just the implication that she didn't have any idea about something caused her to bristle a little. He didn't seem to want to insult her, however; he was merely stating a fact. 'Elphaba… I don't know where you got these crazy ideas. I probably never will know, because I don't think you'd ever trust me enough to tell me. But the effect you have, the person you are… You want to know what I see when I look at you?'

'Green?' she offered, and he grinned at her. 'Well, I won't say that's not what I see, because obviously it is. But that's not _all _I see. I meant what's underneath the green. You're strong. You're compassionate. You're an amazing friend,' he said, with a look towards Galinda. 'You're passionate and determined, witty and altogether a pleasure to be around. You've changed Fiyero so much – and for the better, believe me. You're not cursed, Elphaba. Not at all. On the contrary – from what I've heard from both Fiyero and Galinda, and from what I've seen of you myself, you're a blessing to everyone you care about.'

Elphaba wanted to snort at that, or make a sarcastic comment, but somehow, she found her throat constricted with pent up tears.

'It's true, Elphie,' said Galinda softly. She gave Paro a half smile. 'If you'd say that to any other girl, I'd be jealous, but in your case, Elphie… he's just right. It's true. And I know you believe otherwise, and despite endless attempts by me to convince you that you're not cursed, or ugly, or a freak, or a walking aberration, you won't or can't see yourself the way I – we – see you. All I can say, Elphie, is that you're wonderful, and I'm proud to call myself your friend,' she declared, lifting her chin up in the air. 'And _anyone _would be lucky to call you their friend.'

The tears threatened to spill, but she managed to keep them in. 'Lin…'

The blonde sighed. 'Please just… just think about it, Elphie. Look in a mirror and try to see what we see when we look at you. Just try. I want you to be happy,' she said softly. 'And I think you could be… with Fiyero. You could both be happy.' With that and another sympathising smile, they left the room.

Elphaba finally let the tears spill.

* * *

Right after leaving her friend behind, Galinda dumped Paro with Moss and Laoyar and went in search of Fiyero, whom she discovered in the gardens, lying on his back and staring at the clouds drifting past in the sky. He looked up as he heard her approach. 'Oh. Hi.'

'Hey,' she said, sitting down beside him, for this once ignoring the fact that the grass would probably stain her skirt. 'We need to talk.'

He sighed heavily. 'So she told you. I don't blame her, of course – you're her best friend and all… I just hoped it would take her a little longer. So what did she say? Did she call me a stupid brainless jerk? Because that's what I am,' he said miserably, and Galinda rolled her eyes in a very Elphaba-like fashion. 'Stop feeling sorry for yourself. She didn't call you a stupid brainless jerk and you aren't one, either. She didn't even want to tell me – I had to pull it out of her.'

He didn't really respond to that. 'Oh.'

'Yeah, 'oh',' Galinda mimicked him. She sighed. 'You really don't see it, do you?'

'What? That I'm a stupid brainless-'

Galinda whacked him in the head. 'Oh yes, so she rejected you, boohoo. Poor you. If I were you, I'd hide myself in the deepest pit I could find to wallow in self-pity. Only if you're _really _not as brainless as you look, you might want to use your eyes and those very scarce brain cells of yours for once and look _beyond_ the walls Elphie has built around herself.'

He looked at her in confusion. 'What do you mean?'

She sighed deeply. 'So you _are _a stupid brainless jerk. Alright then, let me spell it out for you: Elphie loves you.'

'But she said-'

Galinda threw her hands in the air in exasperation. 'Girls don't always mean what they say! It's all about the context, Fiyero – you've had so much experience with girls in your life, how can you not know that?' she demanded. 'And especially Elphie – she _never _voices what she feels. Ever. So, context – remember what she said and more importantly, how she said it. If Elphie really didn't love you, she'd have told you that in a friendly, but firm way, you know, the typical practical Elphie-way, where she'd feel kind of sorry for you that she couldn't return your feelings, but nothing else. If she secretly _does _love you, but is just afraid to admit it, she'd get emotional and yell at you and cry and run away. So which one was it?' She knew the answer perfectly well, of course – she just wanted Fiyero to realise this himself.

'The latter,' he admitted, and she looked at him pointedly. 'See? You can't give up, Fiyero. We both know you have a brain – use it.'

He sighed. 'I don't understand. Why would she run away from me if she loves me back? I know she's insecure and she doesn't have any experience with relationships, but it's just me!'

Galinda sighed, too, and shifted a little to be able to look him straight in the eye. 'Elphie asked me not to tell anyone this, but I think you should know.' She took a deep breath. 'She believes she's cursed.'

Fiyero gaped at her. 'Why-'

'She believes it's her fault that Nessa can't walk and that her mother died, because she was born green. Her mother chewed milk flowers during Nessa's pregnancy to prevent the new baby from being born green as well, and the milk flowers caused Nessa to come too early, unable to use her legs, and her mother died giving birth. Frex told her it was her fault and she believes it. That's why she's insecure, that's why she tries to push everyone away – she thinks her very existence causes people pain. She's never truly been loved, Fiyero. I think Nessa loves her, to some extent; but to her, Elphie is more of a servant than a sister. Her mother probably loved her, but she died when Elphaba was three years old. Frex has always hated her. She doesn't know what it feels like to be loved – have you got any idea how long it took me to get close to her? In the beginning, she didn't let me in. She told me this the night after we became friends, but after that, it took me _weeks _to get her to tell me more about herself. She tensed every time I so much as _touched _her, because she's not used to any of that. Just… just try to keep that in mind, Fiyero. She may act strong and confident, but she's vulnerable, and she truly believes that she is cursed. If you _really _love her-'

'I do,' he interrupted immediately, making her smile slightly. 'If you do, you're going to have to be patient,' she went on. '_Very _patient. Take things slow. Let her be for a while – she needs the time and space to think. Never push her. Move slowly, try not to scare her away. That's the best advice I could give you.' She got up and brushed the grass from her skirt. 'I talked to her earlier today,' she said. 'I hope she listened… and I hope she'll think about what I said. Give her a few days to get herself together and then try again – subtly, of course.' She patted his head. 'Good luck.'

She left then. Fiyero stared across the grasslands, trying to process everything Galinda had just told him. _She believes she's cursed… _He hated her father, for making her feel that way. He hated everyone who had ever maltreated her – including himself. He felt awful for pushing her the way he had, and he was determined to make things right again. He'd do as Galinda had said; give her a few days to cool off and think, then approach her again. He'd take it slow with her, because she was worth the wait. And somehow, someday, he would be the one to make her see how amazing she really was.

* * *

In the following week, everyone's mind became otherwise occupied as some alarming news reached them: the yellow fever outbreak Lori had worried about before had turned into an epidemic, leaving many Vinkuns ill. Lori and Frex tried desperately to keep the disease constrained, telling everyone to keep themselves cool and away from masses of other people, and to try to avoid mosquitoes, since it was thought they spread the disease. It didn't work, however; the epidemic spread across the Vinkus and finally also attacked the inhabitants of Adurin Iir.

Elphaba, Nessarose, Paro, and Lori had already contracted it once during their lifetime and were immune now; the others, however, weren't quite so lucky. Galinda caught a less severe form of the disease, leaving her with a fever, a headache and an impending nausea that caused her to vomit every half hour or so, although her main concern was that her hair looked messy from lying down all day and that the vomiting might cause Paro to not be attracted to her anymore. She didn't have to worry about that, though; he sat by her bedside almost constantly, gently dabbing her forehead with a wet cloth and reading her stories from books.

Laoyar got sick as well, catching a mild form of the fever; his mother kept him home for the time being to give him the time to heal. Moss also stayed at home, helping his parents take care of his younger brother, who had gotten sick. Boq experienced a few minor symptoms that faded after a few days. They already considered themselves lucky…

…until disaster hit them after all.

* * *

_One morning when Fiyero woke up, he found his mother in the hallway, pacing frantically. Lori stopped when she saw her son and an expression of something he couldn't quite identify flashed across her features. 'Yero…'_

'_What is it? What's wrong?' he asked urgently, sensing his mother's anxiety. She sighed and moved closer to him to put her hands on his shoulders. 'Yero… it's Elphaba,' she whispered, and he bolted out the corridor and towards the green girl's bedroom._

_None of them understood how it was possible. When someone had been sick with yellow fever, they were supposed to be immune; however, Elphaba had somehow contracted a severe form of the fever that left her in some sort of coma most of the time. It was life-threatening and there was nothing anyone could do but hope and pray that her body would get over it soon._

_Fiyero sat by her day and night, reading, singing softly, or talking to her. Sometimes, she woke, and although groggy and disoriented, she'd recognise him. 'Don't worry, Yero…' she murmured one time when she saw the worried look on his face, extending one hand to touch his cheek, then letting it drop on the sheets again, too weak to move. 'I'll be fine,' she whispered, before drifting off into unconsciousness again. He didn't believe her. He only needed to look at her to know that she would not be fine._

_After that, her moments of consciousness became even scarcer, until the point came where she didn't come to anymore at all. Instead, she was suffering from feverish delusions and hallucinations, flailing and thrashing around, sometimes yelling or crying or talking, but never waking up. Fiyero allowed his mother to take him with her every now and then, to wash up and eat something, to keep him going; but otherwise, he stayed with Elphaba, as if by staying with her and staring at her long and intently enough, he could will her to wake up and get better again._

_One night, when he had fallen asleep in the chair next to her bed, he woke because she was talking again. It was incoherent and barely audible, a soft murmur, but part of it reached his ears. 'I'm so sorry, Yero…' she was wailing softly, tossing and turning as she spoke. '…so sorry… I do love you, Yero, I do… just scared… don't leave me…'_

_He gently took her hand in his and squeezed it softly. 'I'll never leave you,' he said quietly, even though he wasn't sure she could hear him or not. He didn't think she even realised what she'd just said and he was careful not to attach any meaning to it; but despite all that, it gave him hope somehow. _

_His hope seemed to be futile, however, because over the following days, she got worse. Lori had ordered the best doctors found in the Vinkus to the castle, had even hired the best one from the Emerald City to come and take a look at Elphaba – she had grown very fond of the green girl, loving her like a daughter, and she couldn't stand the thought of her dying. Yet that was exactly what was happening, as all the doctors confirmed sadly and sympathetically. She was dying. Unless her body recovered by itself within the next day or so, she was a lost cause._

_When Fiyero woke up the next day, once again in the chair beside her bed, he realised something was wrong. The sound of her breathing, however faint and uneven, had filled the room for the past days; now, there was only silence._

_He bolted towards the bed and bent over her, trying to shake her awake. 'Elphaba? Fae?' he called in a shrill voice, but she didn't move. She didn't breathe, she didn't live. She was gone. She had died._

_The howl that came out of his mouth was horrible, awful and painful to listen to, yet it was the only sound that could give voice to the despair and grief he was feeling._

* * *

_The funeral ceremony was beautiful. There were many people there; her friends and family, of course, but also Shiz students and old Munchkinland neighbours that now suddenly regretted the way they had treated her. He didn't even acknowledge them. Their regret meant nothing. It wouldn't bring her back._

_As the coffin was lowered into the gaping hole in the earth, he turned away, unable to watch any longer, tears filling his eyes. 'I'm so sorry, Fae,' he whispered, his heart aching. 'I'm so sorry.'_

_He walked away. He knew his mother and his friends would probably want to come after him, but apparently they understood that he wanted to be alone right now, because they didn't. He was grateful for that. _

_He made his way to the bench where they had sat before, not too long ago, watching the sunrise together… back when everything had been good. Not perfect, but good. He wished he could just have been content with her friendship. He regretted pushing her by declaring his love for her. It had spoiled everything, and now he would never have the chance to make everything right again._

_He stared ahead, noting absent-mindedly the giant tree in front of him. There had been a swing there once, back in his childhood. His father had made it and attached it to a strong, thick branch, and Fiyero himself had played with it endlessly, swinging back and forth, closing his eyes and imagining himself to be flying. Now, the swing was gone, but he could still see it if he closed his eyes; and he pictured Elphaba to be on it, swinging higher and higher and higher until she was barely visible, disappearing into the clouds. She was singing and as always, his heart leapt up at the sound of her voice, the most beautiful sound in the world… even if now, it only existed in his imagination._

_She sang, ''Cause you only need the light when it's burning low, only miss the sun when it starts to snow… Only know you love him when you let him go…'_

_He pictured her, willing her to actually be there, on the swing in the garden, singing the song. 'Only know you love her when you let her go,' he whispered, watching as she swung higher and higher until she vanished into the clouds and never came back again._

* * *

**_*_quickly hides***


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Why I'm doing this to you? Because I can. And because your reactions are funny :D.**

**Don't worry, though - you'll stop hating me again after this. I hope. And next chapter will be what we've all been waiting for (or, well, _I _have been waiting for it). **

* * *

'He's hallucinating.'

Doctor Iaden looked sad as he addressed them. 'He's caught an extremely severe form of the yellow fever – life-threatening, even. I'm very sorry, your Majesty, there's nothing I can do. His body will have to heal on its own.'

Lori nodded, with tears in her eyes. 'I understand.'

Iaden smiled at her sympathetically before leaving again. Lori buried her face in Frex's chest and Paro, who had left Galinda for a moment, looked incredibly pale. Lori finally took a deep breath and ushered Frex out of the room. 'Go, please… please go. I don't want you getting sick as well.' She looked at Paro, who rose. 'I'm going back to Galinda,' he said quietly. 'I'll check up on him every now and then.'

Lori nodded gratefully as Paro left the room. Then she looked at Elphaba. 'You should go as well. If you get sick…'

Elphaba, who was clutching Fiyero's hand, shook her head violently. 'I'm immune. And I'm staying,' she declared.

Lori hesitated for a moment, then nodded. 'I have things to take care of… call me if you need me, okay? And please call me immediately if anything changes.'

'I will,' Elphaba promised and Lori gave her a tired smile before leaving the room. The raven-haired girl looked back at Fiyero. His face was flushed and sweat trickled down his forehead, and he was restless, moving constantly. She took a deep, shuddering breath, then buried her face in the sheets. She couldn't believe this was happening. Fiyero was sick, he might die, and her last words to him had been 'I don't love you'. She hated herself more than ever now.

Suddenly, he started flailing and his eyes shot open, although he didn't seem to see anything. 'Fae! Are you okay?'

Her heart broke.

'Don't worry, Yero,' she whispered, gently dabbing at his sweaty forehead with a wet cloth. 'I'm not sick. I'll be fine.' It seemed to calm him a little. His eyes drifted shut again and he lay still for a while.

She stayed with him constantly, tending to him and desperately holding back her tears, but when he muttered her name again in his feverish sleep that night, she couldn't fight them anymore. Thick, hot tears made their way down her cheeks and fell onto the blankets, shattering into tiny little droplets as they hit the fabric. 'I'm so sorry, Fiyero,' she whispered, not even bothering to wipe the tears away because she knew they would keep coming anyway. 'I'm so sorry… I… I didn't mean it. I do love you, I do… but I was scared. I was a coward, Yero, and I'm so sorry… I wish I could make things right with you again… Please don't leave me, Yero,' she begged, still clutching his hand. 'Please come back… don't leave me alone…'

It was as if he could hear her, because he stirred and muttered something unintelligible, but he didn't wake up. She heaved a shaky sigh and wiped at her tears. 'I love you,' she whispered, as if by saying that, she could convince him to wake up and get better again. Only he didn't move, and she fell back in her chair, exhausted.

Lori, who had been listening at the door, wiped away a few tears of her own.

Fiyero's condition didn't change over the next few days and everyone stopped by every now and then to check. Nessa just sat next to her sister, gently laying one hand on her shoulder and silently comforting her; Paro would come and talk to his unconscious friend, and Lori just sat with him opposite Elphaba, holding his other hand and looking at him with tears shimmering in her eyes. She smiled weakly at Elphaba. 'It's funny, isn't it? You never realise what you have until you nearly lose it. Only miss the sun when it starts to snow…' She shook her head slightly and let out a half-sob, half-laugh. 'I spent too little time with him,' she whispered. 'I was so focused on ruling the Vinkus and keeping everything from falling apart after Hamold had died, that I neglected him… He grew up so soon suddenly, and he was away most of the year, and now I had the chance to spend a few months with him and all I did was marry another man and take care of the Vinkus. I should have spent less time trying to be a good Queen and more time trying to be a good mother…' She was crying by now and in an impulse, Elphaba reached forwards and squeezed Lori's hand. 'You _are _a good mother,' she said softly. 'Back at Shiz… Fiyero would often talk about you and his father. He loved you both so much…' Her voice trailed away and she swallowed. 'He… he never felt neglected, Lori,' she said softly. 'If anything, he felt a little guilty for putting you through his dancing-through-life phase.'

Lori smiled through her tears. 'I know he did… I told him it was okay. He needed that phase to find himself. He's grown up so much since then… I'm glad I told him I was proud of him the other day,' she whispered. 'I'm happy that at least, if… if anything goes… wrong… he'd have known that.'

_I don't love you. I don't! _Elphaba swallowed, but it felt as if her throat was clenched shut. If anything went wrong, he'd never know that she…

'Thank you, Elphaba,' Lori said quietly, smiling at the green girl. 'For telling me that, that he did love us and that he didn't feel neglected… I didn't think he did, but… it means a lot to hear it from someone else. And thank you for staying with him all the time.' She gingerly got up, pressed her lips against her son's forehead and left the room.

When the door closed, Elphaba was already crying again.

* * *

She didn't tell anyone about her feelings, her guilt for leaving him with those horrendible last words, but when Galinda had gotten better after a few days and came to see her best friend in Fiyero's room, she couldn't hold it in any longer. Elphaba flung herself at the blonde girl, sobbing uncontrollably. 'I was so horrible to him!' she wailed, clinging to her best friend. 'And now he might die and my… my last words to him…' She choked, but Galinda understood. 'Oh, Elphie,' she whispered, enveloping her friend in a great hug. 'Don't think about that! He won't die, he won't!'

'He might!' Elphaba countered, angrily wiping at her tears. 'I'm a horrible person!' she wailed and Galinda tightened her grip on her friend. 'You're not a horrible person, Elphie,' she told her friend sternly. 'No one knew this would happen. You were just scared – everyone is scared sometimes.' She was silent for a while. 'And he knew,' she then said quietly. 'That you didn't mean it.'

Elphaba looked up, sniffling. 'What do you mean?'

'He… he knows that you _do _love him,' confessed Galinda. 'He was so sad, Elphie, and I thought he would give up, and I didn't want him to, because I knew you loved him back, so… so I told him. I told him about your mother, and the milk flowers, and that you believe it's your fault, and that you do love him but that you're just very scared… I'm sorry, Elphie,' she said softly. 'I didn't want to betray your trust, but I… I thought he should know.'

Elphaba was silent for a while. Then she wrapped her arms around her friend again. 'Thank you, Lin,' she whispered fiery. 'Thank you so much.'

Galinda looked at her questioningly. 'You're not mad at me?'

Elphaba shook her head. 'Normally, I probably would be, but… but no. I'm not. Because if it weren't for you, he would have gotten sick, and perhaps even… die… thinking that I didn't love him back…'

Galinda smiled at her and hugged her friend again. 'You're welcome, Elphie. And he'll get better – you just wait and see!'

The green girl sighed heavily. 'I don't know, Lin… I… I hope so. I really hope so, but…'

'Don't you dare being pessimistic again,' Galinda warned her sternly. 'Think positive. He'll get better.' She kissed her friend's cheek. 'Perhaps you could try a true love's kiss.'

'Galinda!'

'What?' the blonde asked innocently. 'It works in stories. Plus, I heard the doctor say that even if he is in some kind of coma, he might still be able to hear and feel you – I think it's worth a try, is it not?' She hugged the dark-haired girl again. 'Try to be optimistic, Elphie.'

* * *

There was little reason to be optimistic, however, because in the next few days, Fiyero got even worse. Doctor Iaden checked up on him every day, examining him, but there was nothing he could do but wait until Fiyero's fever broke… or until he would die.

Elphaba had talked to him and to the others before, and sometimes she had left the room to eat something or take a short walk; but now, she went completely silent. She didn't speak. She didn't leave the room, except for sometimes at night. She barely ate. She barely slept. She couldn't even cry anymore. She just sat there, next to his bed, holding his hand and taking care of him the best she could.

The others were worried about her and tried to talk to her or coax her into eating something, but she never spoke a word and she never ate more than a few small bites. At night, she'd sometimes leave the room and go to the library, searching out spell books and trying out healing spells, but none of them seemed to have any effect at all. She felt as if she was screaming inside, but couldn't get a sound out, slowly drowning in her own despair and grief.

Then, one day, however, she found her sound, a way to give voice to what she was feeling. Lori heard it first when she came up to sit with her son and Elphaba for a while, bringing in a tray with some food. She stopped in the hallway when she heard it. The most beautiful sound ever.

Elphaba sang.

She started with some lullabies from her childhood, but soon, she resorted to one song in particular, and old Vinkun song her mother had taught her when she was still a little girl. She had remembered it because of Lori's remark during their talk a few days prior, which happened to be part of the lyrics of the song: only need the sun when it starts to snow. She knew Fiyero had loved it and it voiced perfectly what she was feeling inside, and so she sang it. Over and over again.

''Cause you only need the light when it's burning low. Only miss the sun when it starts to snow. Only know you love him when you let him go.' She whispered the words at first, but gradually, they grew louder.

One day, Fiyero bolted upright in his bed again, arms flailing, looking absolutely frantic. 'Elphaba? Fae?' He sounded completely panicked and she rushed to his side, laying one cool hand on his burning forehead. 'I'm here, Yero,' she said. 'I'm here. What's wrong?'

'…dead…' he whispered, and then he cried out, an almost inhuman sound that scared her. 'Fiyero!' she yelled, trying to shake him, but he didn't stop. Finally, the sound faded until it was no longer audible, and he went limp once again.

She was trembling, not sure what had just happened. Doctor Iaden had said that Fiyero was hallucinating, but she wasn't sure what about; the fact that he kept repeating her name suggested clearly that whatever awful it was he was seeing and experiencing, she had something to do with it, which only made her feel more guilty and awful.

The next day, when she had fallen asleep with her head on her arms, half-bent over his bed, she woke because he was stirring. She blinked a few times to clear the sleep from her eyes and looked at him. He was still unconscious and he was crying, silent tears leaking down his face. 'Yero?' she asked softly, and his breath caught in his throat. Then he whispered something, and she had to bring her face close to his to hear what he was saying.

'…sorry, Fae… I'm so sorry.'

Her heart ached. She wished she knew what he was hallucinating about… or perhaps she didn't even want to know. She pushed the thoughts away and instead sang again - a Quadling song, to lull him back to sleep, but his sleep remained uneasy and light. He kept on tossing and turning almost constantly, murmuring unintelligible things. Sometimes, she'd catch bits and pieces of his feverish dreams. '…swing…' he muttered once, rolling over in his bed. 'Higher and higher and higher…'

'Yes, Yero,' she whispered in a soothing voice, stroking some hair back from his face. 'Swinging higher and higher and higher.'

He fell silent again after that, and she started singing again softly. 'Only know you've been high when you're feeling low… Only hate the road when you're missing home. Only know you love him when you let him go.' She looked at him, so weak and almost dying as he lay there in the bed, and it felt as if her heart shattered into tiny pieces as she realised once again what she'd done. She whispered the final words of the song, the ones that hurt her the most. '…and I let you go.'

'Don't go,' he murmured. 'Don't go… don't fly to the clouds… come back…' He took a deep, laboured breath, then seemed a bit calmer again. 'Only know you love her when you let her go…' he mumbled, his voice barely above a whisper. 'Goodbye, Fae… miss you…'

She started to panic. What did he mean, goodbye? Was he…

'Fiyero!' she said firmly, grabbing both his shoulders and shaking him a little – perhaps not the best thing to do to someone in a coma, but she was panicking. 'You are _not _going to die. Do you hear me? You're not!'

'Am not…' he muttered in a faintly annoyed voice. '…Mom…? Let me sleep…'

She exhaled slowly and fell back into the chair. He was still just hallucinating. Thank Oz.

There was a faint knock on the door and Paro tentatively entered the room. 'Hey,' he said quietly. He gestured towards Fiyero. 'How is he?'

She shrugged and he understood her meaning. Still the same. He sighed. 'I hoped you would be talking again… I heard you talk earlier.'

'What's there to say?' she said softly and he looked at her sympathetically. He didn't say anything else, just sat down on Fiyero's other side. 'Hey, buddy,' he said, looking at his unconscious friend. 'I know you like to sleep in, but this is starting to get slightly ridiculous, don't you think?'

The corners of Elphaba's mouth turned a little bit upwards at that. Paro continued talking. 'Come on, Yero, just wake up now. You're scaring your Mom into an early grave – not to mention the fact that Galinda is simply frantic and Elphaba…' He looked at her over his friend's head and she met his gaze. She knew what he saw and she knew it wasn't good. She'd been more or less neglecting herself; it had been ages since she had last brushed her hair or had a good night's sleep, and it must show. Paro cleared his throat. 'She's not good, Yero. Not at all.' She could hardly deny that, so she just kept silent.

Paro sighed again, then suddenly got angry. 'Wake _up_, Oz dammit, Yero!' he yelled, slamming his fist onto the mattress. 'Wake _up_!'

Elphaba quietly got up and moved towards the other side of the bed, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked up. Their eyes met, his filled with tears, hers with pain and sympathy. They didn't say anything; they understood without words what the other was feeling. Suddenly, Paro surprised her by pulling her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her and crying as he buried his face in her hair.

She closed her eyes and just held him for a while, letting him cry. She knew he had been holding it in ever since Fiyero had gotten sick, for Lori, and for Galinda, because he knew _someone _had to stay strong; but no one could be strong forever. Fiyero was his best friend…

She started to sing another lullaby, very softly, and after a while, he quieted down a little. He pulled away then, slightly embarrassed. 'I'm sorry.'

She shook her head. 'Don't be.'

He took another deep breath to calm himself down. Suddenly, Fiyero started flailing around again, his eyes snapping open without seeing anything. 'Fae!' he yelled. 'Come back! Don't die!'

She leapt to his side and nearly crushed his hand in hers. 'I'm not dead, Fiyero. I'm right here, okay? I'm right here.'

He calmed a little at the sound of her voice, but he was still whimpering softly. 'Mom… why… why did she die? Elphaba…' He furrowed his brow. 'Don't go…'

'I won't, Yero,' she whispered, forgetting for a moment that Paro was still in the room. 'I promise I won't. I'm so sorry I did earlier… but I promise I won't do it ever again. If you'd just wake up, I could prove it to you…' She rested her forehead on the mattress and sighed. 'Only know you love him when you let him go…' she whispered. 'Why did I ever let you go?'

This time, it was Paro's turn to gently touch her shoulder and she looked up. 'He knew, Elphaba,' he said solemnly. 'He knows. That you love him.'

'I know,' she whispered, glancing at Fiyero's face once again before looking back at Paro. 'But it's not enough.'

He nodded, understanding without further needing her to elaborate, and looked at his unconscious friend again. 'Just wake up soon, Yero,' he whispered. 'We need you. Some more than others, but we all need you.' He gave Elphaba another sad smile before leaving the room.

* * *

Elphaba must have fallen asleep again, because when she opened her eyes, it was dark outside and she was curled up in an uncomfortable position in the arm chair. She stretched, trying to get the blood in her limbs flowing again, then looked at Fiyero. His sleep seemed to be peaceful now; he didn't move and there was a faint smile curling his lips. She sighed and gently pushed his hair away from his face, laying her hand on his forehead. He was still burning hot. She put a cool cloth on his forehead and continued stroking his hair.

She watched him, and suddenly, her earlier conversation with Galinda came back to her. She felt utterly silly for even _considering _it, but Galinda had been right about one thing. _Why not give it a try? _

Well… it wouldn't hurt him. She hesitated only for a moment before leaning down and kissing him.

If she had ever imagined her first kiss – which she hadn't, thinking she'd never get one anyway – it wasn't like this. She would have dreamed about it being romantic – more like the time _he _actually had tried to kiss _her_, but without the running away part, of course. Why had she done that, anyway? All of her arguments for trying to push him away earlier suddenly seemed senseless and idiotic to her. What if Galinda and Paro were right? What if she wasn't cursed? What if she could truly be happy with Fiyero?

_For that to have a chance at happening, he has to wake up first._

Anyway, so this was definitely not how she would have imagined her first kiss. Not in his room with him lying unconscious, his lips burning hot with fever, and herself looking like a ghost with tangled hair and dark circles under her eyes. But even despite all that, it managed to give her a fluttery feeling in her stomach and a warm feeling in her chest. She pulled away, slightly out of breath, and leaned back into the chair. 'Oz, I'm such an idiot,' she muttered to herself. 'True love's kiss… Yeah, right.' She sighed and stared out of the window. There were lots of starts tonight; she could see them through the glass, although she didn't see the moon. She sighed again.

Fiyero stirred in the bed. 'Fae?' he mumbled, and she leaned forward again, taking his hand and giving it a faint squeeze. 'I'm here, Yero,' she replied absent-mindedly – he'd been calling out for her – and for his mother and friends as well, sometimes – at least a few times a day for the past week or so, so she didn't really think anything of it. His hand moved in hers and he shifted a little; then his eyes opened.

That in itself wasn't unusual either. He'd opened his eyes several times since he got sick, but they were always foggy and unseeing – at least, unseeing of the real world, because he seemed to see lots of other things in his mind. Doctor Iaden had assured them that it was normal and not in itself something to worry about.

This time, however, when she looked at him, she was startled. He was watching her, and though his sky blue eyes were still glazed over a little with fever, they were clearer than she had seen them in a long time. 'Fae?' he croaked out. 'Is that really you?'

'It's me,' she confirmed cautiously, not sure what to think of this. His eyes closed again and she thought he was drifting back to sleep, but then they snapped open again. 'Am I dead?'

A mirthless chuckle escaped her lips. 'I certainly hope not.'

He blinked. 'But… but you're here.'

'I'm here,' she confirmed again, not sure where he was going with this. He furrowed his brow. 'But if you're here, and I'm here, and I'm not dead… does that mean you're not dead, either?'

She put a fresh wet cloth on his forehead. 'I'm not dead, Fiyero. Not even close. I'm not the one hovering on the edge of death at the moment.'

'But… but you were sick.' He looked confused. 'Weren't you? The yellow fever…'

'I'm immune, remember?' she reminded him as she gazed into his eyes, trying to decide whether he was still hallucinating or if he really was lucid now. 'I never got sick. You did.'

'I did…' he repeated. His eyes dashed across the room before coming to rest on her once more. 'So… Was I hallucinating, then?'

She became more and more convinced that he was, indeed, lucid now. 'Doctor Iaden said you were.'

He exhaled slowly and closed his eyes for a moment, clearly relieved. 'You're not dead,' he mumbled, a small smile spreading across his face. 'Thank Oz you're not dead.'

She cleared her throat. 'Doctor Iaden said that if you'd wake up, I was… supposed to ask you questions. To see if you're really awake, or if you're having hallucinations again…'

He gave her his lopsided grin, however faint, and it eased the pressure on her chest a little. Perhaps he was getting better after all. 'Ask away.'

'What's your name?'

He stared at her. 'Really?'

She shrugged. 'Doctor's orders.'

He rolled his eyes. 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.'

She gave him a stern look and he gave in. 'Fiyero Hamold Tiggular.'

'Do you know where you are?'

'In my room at Adurin Iir,' he replied patiently.

'Do you remember what happened?' she asked him. He wrinkled his nose. 'I… I think so. Up to some point. Then it all gets… blurry. I thought you were… you had gotten sick and you were…' He swallowed. 'And then Galinda turned Moss into a broomstick – that part seemed weird…'

She couldn't stifle a giggle – more out of relief than anything else. 'Thank Oz, you're really awake,' she sighed, relief washing over her. She felt his forehead. 'You're cooler already… You were still burning up moments ago – when I…' She interrupted herself and blushed furiously. Had he been awake already when she had kissed him? Had he noticed that?

_It doesn't matter, Elphaba!_ she told herself sternly. _You swore that if he got better, you wouldn't be scared anymore, remember? Whether he was awake to know you kissed him or not, you're going to tell him how you feel and you're going to be honest!_

She shook her head clear of the thoughts whirling around in her head. 'I have to go get your mother,' she told him quickly before quite literally running off to find Lori.

* * *

**So... love me again? *innocently smiling wide eyed Galinda face***


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Sooooo... yay for this chapter. Fluff, fluff, and more fluff. Woohoo. Your reviews were once again lovely, by the way, thank you so much :). **

* * *

The Queen was sitting in the library, even though it was past midnight already, and Elphaba stopped in the doorway, panting from running all around the castle. 'He's awake,' was all she said, and Lori immediately leapt to her feet and ran out of the library. 'I'll get Doctor Iaden!' Elphaba called after her and went in search for the doctor then.

Things immediately got hectic after that. On her way towards the doctor, Elphaba ran past the room Paro was staying in for the time being, and the noise had woke him up. He opened his door, looking sleepy, as she ran past. 'Elphaba?' he asked in surprise.

'He's awake!' she called over her shoulder, not even slowing down, unable to keep a broad grin from her face. Paro smiled as he noticed, then dashed off in the opposite direction, towards Fiyero's room.

By the time Elphaba got back there with the doctor, practically everyone had gathered in or outside the room. Nessa and Boq were waiting in the hallway, looking excited; Frex was with them, his face expressionless as ever. Inside, Galinda was sobbing with relief into Paro's shoulder and there were tears in his eyes as well. Lori sat on the edge of the bed, crying with her arms wrapped around her son.

She moved away slightly, but didn't let go of his hand, as Doctor Iaden came closer to examine him. They all waited for him to speak up, and when he did, he was smiling a little. 'His fever broke,' Iaden announced, turning around to face the others in the room. 'His life is in danger no more.'

At that, both Lori and Galinda burst out in a fresh wave of sobs, and a large grin spread across Paro's face as he looked at his best friend. 'Oz, dude, you scared us all to death, you know that?'

Fiyero returned the grin weakly. 'Yeah… sorry.'

'He needs to rest now.' Doctor Iaden ushered them all out of the room. Lori, however, looked as if she was going to burst into tears again. 'Can I stay with him?' she whispered. 'Please?'

Iaden immediately complied. 'Of course, your Majesty. But just you – no one else. He needs his rest; it's his best hope of a quick and complete recovery.'

Lori nodded and Paro took Galinda out of the room. Elphaba followed. Even though she was dying to talk to Fiyero alone, she didn't want to intrude and she certainly didn't want to interrupt Lori's time alone with her son. So she went to her room, where she hadn't been in more than a week, crawled into bed, and fell asleep.

Her sleep was restless, however, and for some reason, she woke up several times during the night; When she woke up again, a little before dawn, she gave up and got out of bed, starting to wander through the hallways of the castle instead.

When she passed Fiyero's room, of which the door was open – to get fresh air inside, and to allow the others to check up on him quickly – she heard a hoarse voice call her. 'Elphaba?'

She went back and peered inside the room. Fiyero was awake, and alone; Lori must have left earlier. She had probably been exhausted, too.

The raven-haired witch lingered in the doorway, not wanting to disturb his much needed rest. 'Yes?'

He rolled his eyes at her, as if reading her thoughts. 'Come in.'

She complied, gingerly setting herself down on the chair next to his bed. 'How are you feeling?'

'I've been better,' he said with a faint smirk. 'But I'm feeling much better already than I did before… I think. I still don't remember much.' He sighed and looked at the window. 'It's nearly sunrise, isn't it?'

She immediately understood his meaning and got up to open the curtains. His bedroom window looked out over the eastern sky, allowing them to watch the sunrise from inside the bedroom. They sat in silence for a while, as the golden beams of the morning sun penetrated the room, projecting strange patterns on the floor. He sighed with content and she couldn't help but smile, but then she thought of something he had said earlier and the smile slowly faded.

'So you really don't remember anything?' she asked in a small voice, wanting to kick herself immediately afterwards because she sounded like a pathetic five-year-old. She didn't like the idea, however, of him not remembering anything – if only because in that case, she would have to tell him how she felt again, and she still wasn't really good at telling people how she felt.

Fiyero cocked his head a little to the side. 'I'm not sure,' he admitted. He frowned, and his face fell a little. 'But you're all telling me I've been hallucinating… which must mean that everything I remember was just a dream.' He swallowed. 'Or, well, hallucination.' A sigh. 'Don't get me wrong… I'm really happy it wasn't true and that you're still alive. That was the worst one… But there were certain… parts… of those hallucinations… that I kind of wish weren't hallucinations.'

'Like what?' she asked, her heart pounding in her chest. She had a vague idea of what he was talking about, but she wanted to hear him say it.

He looked at her cautiously, and she felt a pang at that. She had betrayed his trust and seeing him look at her like that before he could talk to her made her feel guilty. 'You can tell me,' she said softly. 'I won't run away again, I promise.'

That seemed to be what he wanted to hear, because he softened and admitted quietly, 'When I thought you were sick… I dreamed that you told me…' He took a breath. 'That you loved me.' He rambled on quickly. 'But hey, I also dreamt that Galinda turned Moss into a broomstick, so-'

'What else did you dream that you hoped might be real?' she asked, interrupting him. He looked slightly taken aback, but answered her question all the same. 'Um… I dreamt that my father was there.' His face softened a little. 'I dreamt that you kissed me,' he then admitted. 'And I dreamt that you were sitting on a swing in the gardens, swinging higher and higher, and you were singing.'

'Higher and higher and higher…' she muttered under her breath, and at his questioning look, she explained, 'That's something you said while you were sick.' She shivered at the memory. 'After that… you said goodbye. And I was so scared that you…' She couldn't finish, but he understood.

He took her hand and squeezed it gently. 'I'm better now,' he reminded her. 'I think… I think that was when you were… dead. I pictured you swinging higher and higher, until you disappeared into the clouds and didn't come back…' He sighed, a slightly dreamy look on his face. 'The song… was beautiful. One of my favourites…'

She looked at him and sang. 'Only know you've been high when you're feeling low.' His head shot up in surprise and she continued. 'Only hate the road when you're missing home.'

'Only know you love her when you let her go,' he whispered. 'How do you know what song it was? Did I sing it in my sleep?'

She smiled slightly. 'That, too. But only after I sang it first.'

His eyes got a distant look in them. 'So you did sing it.'

She nodded. 'I did. That wasn't just a hallucination.' She swallowed. 'I sang it. A lot.'

He could see there was more behind her words than she would let on, but he didn't push it. 'And… the rest?'

She took a deep breath. She had to tell the truth now. 'I did kiss you.'

His eyes widened slightly. 'You did? But…' He seemed utterly confused. 'Why?'

'Because…' She looked up and met his gaze. 'You only know you love him when you let him go,' she said softly, knowing that in itself would be enough of an explanation. Her gaze dropped to her hands again. 'And I let you go.'

He indeed understood her meaning right away; he just didn't dare to believe it. 'Are you saying…'

'I was so scared,' she whispered. 'To admit how I truly felt. Because I felt like I would be bad for you… that I was cursed. But then I talked to Paro, and Galinda, and… and I was still figuring things out when you got sick. And only then did I realise… I really do love you. And I'm not helping anyone by denying that or by pushing you away.' She looked up again. 'I'm sorry I was such a coward.'

He was looking at her intently, his azure blue eyes unreadable. 'You said that in my hallucination.'

'I told you,' she whispered. 'That I was sorry, and that I did love you… Right after you first got sick. But by then, I thought it might already be too late – and the more time passed, the more I got convinced of that…' A single tear started to trickle down her cheek, and Fiyero gingerly reached up to wipe it away. 'Fae…' She looked at him. 'Are you sure about this?'

She nodded faintly. 'I'm so sorry. I mean, I'd understand if you didn't want me anymore, because I was so mean to you and I was so-'

He cut her off by putting his finger against her lips. 'Stop rambling.'

She looked sheepish. 'Sorry.'

'And stop saying sorry,' he continued, pushing himself up a little. 'Come here.'

She hesitated, and now it was his turn to look sheepish. 'Oh. Yes. Sorry. Even if you do love me, you probably don't want to come near me right now, with me being all gross and sweaty and not having brushed my teeth…'

She rolled her eyes at him. 'That's not _it, _Yero.' She motioned for him to move over and she lay down on the bed beside him, curled up on her side, facing him. 'Are _you _sure about this?'

He responded by resting his fingers under her chin and pulling her a little closer, brushing his lips against hers. Her eyes fluttered shut and she sighed, encouraging him to kiss her a little harder. Her long raven hair tickled his cheek and he brushed it away from her face, tangling his fingers in the soft, silky tresses in the process. She slipped her arms around his neck and he deepened the kiss, eliciting a soft, low moan from her.

'Hey Yero, how are you- OH MY OZ!' they suddenly heard someone yell and they leapt apart immediately, Fiyero grinning goofily, Elphaba blushing furiously. Paro was standing in the doorway, covering his eyes with his own hand and pushing someone outside the room back into the hallway with his other hand. 'Galinda, get back outside. We're interrupting something.'

They could hear Galinda squeal from outside even as Paro pushed her back and closed the door behind him. 'Way to go, Elphie!' was the last thing they heard her yell before the door slammed shut.

They looked at each other. Then they burst out laughing.

* * *

It took them quite a while to calm down, but eventually, they managed, and when Boq and Nessa walked into the room some time afterwards, they managed to keep their faces straight. 'Hey, guys,' Boq greeted them. 'What's up?'

'Not much,' replied Elphaba in a serious tone of voice, and she could almost _feel _Fiyero stifling his laughter beside her, which made it difficult for her not to laugh, too. Nessa and Boq, however, were peacefully oblivious. 'I'm glad to see you're doing better, Fiyero,' Nessa said with a warm smile, and Fiyero smiled back. 'Thanks, Ness. The doctor said I'll be fine within a few days or so.'

'Good to hear,' Boq agreed. 'Oh – Nessa and I met Moss in town earlier. He's going to stop by today to see you. Laoyar too. They heard about you being sick and all and they want to see with your own eyes that you're fine again.'

'More than fine,' said Fiyero with a wink in Elphaba's direction, and she blushed. Nessa looked from Fiyero to Elphaba and back questioningly. 'Is something wrong? You two are behaving a little… strange.'

'Hey Nessa,' Fiyero said casually. 'Don't you agree that Elphaba is in desperate need of a boyfriend?'

Elphaba choked. Nessa only looked at him in exasperation. 'Yes! Thank you! I've been telling her that for, like, _five _years now, but she won't even _glance _in a boy's direction!'

Fiyero stifled a laugh. Elphaba punched his arm. Nessa and Boq gave them a weird look, which only made Fiyero laugh harder. Boq shook his head. 'What in Oz is wrong with you two?'

'Nothing,' Elphaba grumbled, and Fiyero grinned at Nessa. 'What if I told you Elphaba got herself a boyfriend?'

Nessa looked sceptical. 'I'd say that you're a liar.'

'Let me prove you wrong, then,' said Fiyero with a wicked grin and a meaningful look and Elphaba immediately scrambled away from him, knowing what he was about to do. 'You are _not _going to kiss me with other people there!'

He pouted. 'But Fae…'

Boq gaped at them and Nessa's mouth actually hung open for a moment because she clasped her hands together in delight. 'Oh! You two are _together_! Oh my Oz, that's the best news in _ages_! Congratulotions, the two of you!'

'Thanks, Nessa,' Fiyero said cheerfully. 'Hey Boq, you don't look so good.'

'I just…' the poor Munchkin stammered. 'I- I didn't think… I mean… You… Elphaba… Uhm…'

'Let's leave them to it, Boq,' Nessa interrupted him sweetly. 'Shall we go out to the gardens? It's lovely outside today.' She looked at Elphaba. 'I trust you will behave decently and not do anything stupid, Fabala.'

Elphaba rolled her eyes at her sister. 'He just came to from a _coma_. I don't think there'll be any "ungodly business" going on in the near future, don't worry, Nessa,' she said sarcastically, but Nessarose missed her undertone and just nodded, satisfied. 'Good. I'm really happy for you, Fabala. Let's go, Boq.'

He pushed her out of the room and Elphaba crawled back on the bed. Fiyero immediately put his arm around her and drew her close. 'No "ungodly business"?'

She scowled at him. 'No.'

He pouted. 'Aw, Fae…'

She punched him. '_No_.'

'You know,' he said, rubbing his arm with a painful expression on his face, 'I really don't think Doctor Iaden would recommend you punching me all the time to speed up my healing process.'

She smirked at him. 'Well, what _would _speed up your healing process, then?'

He pulled her closer again and fingered her silky hair, breathing in her scent. 'I can think of some things,' he murmured. She snuggled closer to him, but pulled away quickly as Lori entered the room. Fiyero kept a firm grip on her waist, however, and as he yanked her back, she fell half over him.

Lori's eyes lit up as she saw them together and Elphaba quickly scrambled away from Fiyero. 'It's not what it looks like!'

'Yes it is,' Fiyero said with a straight face, his arm still around her waist to prevent her from going too far away from him. Elphaba swatted at his chest, but he didn't let go. Lori just looked at them for a moment, wearing a radiant smile that could compete with the sun, before climbing on the bed with them and wrapping her arms around them both. 'Oh, I'm so happy!' she declared, kissing the top of Fiyero's head and beaming at Elphaba before giving the green girl a hug of her own. 'Look at the two of you! I haven't seen any of you this happy since… since… well, _ever_, I think.'

Elphaba smiled shyly and Fiyero was grinning so broadly it looked as if his face was going to split in two. Lori laughed at their faces. 'Congratulotions, both of you. Yero, I just spoke to Doctor Iaden again and he said that you're allowed to get out of bed by tomorrow. He's going to examine you again tomorrow morning, just to be sure, but if you healing process keeps going this fast, he recommends you go outside for a small walk. He says fresh air is good for you.'

Fiyero wiggled his eyebrows at Elphaba. 'So I have to make sure I keep healing this fast… what, pray tell, did we just agree upon that would speed up my healing process?' he said with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Elphaba smiled sweetly at him. Then she punched his arm.

He sighed. 'I should have seen that coming.' She laughed and hugged him. 'Want me to take you for a walk tomorrow?'

'Yes please,' he said with a pained expression on his face. 'I never thought I'd say this, but I _hate _being in bed all day long.'

'And you were only _consciously _in bed for _one day_,' said Lori, rolling her eyes at her son. 'My poor Yero.' Lori winked at Elphaba.

Fiyero just stuck out his tongue.

* * *

Doctor Iaden told him with a smile that he was allowed to outside the next day, and Fiyero practically leapt from his bed. Lori helped him get dressed and within minutes, was escorting him outside. 'Here you go. Fresh air.'

He breathed in deeply. 'Ooh, I've missed that.'

'Drama queen,' Lori said teasingly and he chuckled, but then his face fell again. 'I thought Elphaba would take me for a walk, but I haven't see her all day,' he complained.

Lori looked at him, pretending to be offended. 'What? Don't like to go for a walk with your dear old mother?'

He laughed and hugged her. 'Yes, of course I do, I just…' He sighed and Lori smiled at him. 'I know. But she had some… _things _to take care of.'

He looked at his mother suspiciously. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

She grinned at him. 'Nothing.' She could see Elphaba sneaking up behind her son and exchanged another grin with the green girl before patting her son's arm. 'I'm going to go back inside. You wait here.'

'What? But-' he started to protest, but Lori had already disappeared inside. He gaped at the door for a moment, then shook his head. 'What in Oz…' he muttered to himself.

Suddenly, there was a pair of slim hands covering his eyes from behind and he knew why his mother had left. He couldn't keep a broad grin from sneaking up on his face as he felt her warm breath tickling his face as she whispered in his ear, 'Don't peek.'

'Your hands are covering my eyes,' he pointed out. 'How can I peek?'

'I'm going to take them away now, otherwise I can't lead you to where we are going,' she told him. 'So you have to keep them closed. It's a surprise.'

'I thought you hated surprises,' he said as she removed her hands and he obediently kept his eyes shut. He felt her take both his hands in hers and she started leading him down the path through the gardens. 'I hate _getting _surprises,' she said with a smile in her voice. 'I don't have anything against _giving _them.'

Fiyero huffed. 'Lucky me.'

'I thought _you liked _surprises.'

'I do,' he admitted and she chortled softly. 'It's not a very big one, mind. It's just something I thought of yesterday, and, well… you'll see.'

He could barely restrain his curiosity, but he kept his eyes closed as she gingerly led him through the gardens until she made him stop. 'You can sit down here.'

'I don't need to-'

'The doctor says you have to rest every now and then, even during short walks,' she told him sternly. 'And you look tired already. Just sit down.'

He did, feeling a stone bench underneath him. She let one of his hands go, but kept hold of the other as she sat down beside him. 'Okay. You can open your eyes now.'

He did, and he held his breath for a moment. 'Oh, Fae…' he said softly and she looked at him uncertainly. 'Do you… like it? I mean, I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, what with the hallucinations, and, well, you know… but somehow, it felt right. And your mother said there really was a swing there once and she thought you'd like it, too, and-'

He cut her off by kissing her and she relaxed and melted into the kiss almost instantly. She sighed softly when they broke apart. 'I take it you like it, then.'

He grinned at her. 'It's perfect.' He got up and offered her his hand. 'Come on, let me push you.'

'You're not strong enough to-'

'You barely weigh anything,' he reminded her. 'And the more you're going to tell me I can't do something, the more I'm going to do it anyway, so there's no point in arguing. Come on.'

She hesitated, but then laid her hand in his and let him drag her towards the swing that was now once again hanging from the big oak tree in the Royal Gardens. Fiyero was grinning as he studied the swing. 'It's a new one, isn't it? It has to be – the old one was rotting so badly my Dad took it down and used it as firewood.'

Elphaba nodded, smiling. 'We all helped. Moss and Paro made the swing itself, Nessa and I wove the rope, and Laoyar dragged his father's ladder here so that we could put the rope over that branch up there. Your Mom and Galinda were charged with the task of distracting you so you wouldn't notice us running around the gardens.'

Fiyero chuckled. 'They've done their job well – they were both in my room all morning. I was already wondering why in Oz Galinda thought it would be a good idea to keep talking to me about the latest fashion in the Emerald City, but when I asked her that, she told me in a very perky voice that not just women, but men as well have to know about fashion and that I'm a Prince and therefore a role model and blah blah blah. I tuned out after that.'

Elphaba giggled. 'Yeah… Galinda is good at distracting people.' She sat down on the swing and half-turned to look at him. 'Are you sure? I mean, I'd understand if it only brings up the bad memories from the hallucinations you had-'

'Would you stop it?' he interrupted her gently. 'If I was upset, I'd tell you. It's perfect. Really. In a slightly weird and twisted way, but it's still perfect.' He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and whispered in her ear, 'As long as you don't fly off into the clouds and be gone forever.'

She laughed and turned her head to give him a soft kiss. 'I promise I won't.'

'Good.' He stood up and she grabbed the ropes as he started pushing her, watching as she flew higher into the sky every time. Her raven hair was waving behind her, blowing in the wind, and he was struck by the image she made. 'Sing the song,' he said.

She looked back at him and her face softened. 'Yero… Are you sure?'

He nodded and she smiled at him as he walked back to the bench and sat himself down on it. She started to swing on her own again, softly singing the song she knew he wanted to hear. 'Only need the light when it's burning low…'

He just watched her, amazed at the picture and how incredibly similar it was to his dream – it was as if it had been plucked from his hallucination and made real. She sang the song and she swung, higher and higher, until he got up and went over to where she was swinging. When she came down again, he caught her and pulled her off the chair, and she shrieked, then laughed as the fell in the grass together, him practically on top of her. 'What was that for?' she asked with a small giggle.

He studied her dark chocolate brown eyes. They somehow seemed less difficult to read now and what he saw, made him smile. 'I was afraid you'd disappear into the clouds if I let you,' he whispered teasingly, before leaning down to kiss her again.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Yes, guys. I get it. Aww. :P Those reactions were funny, though - I went to check my reviews and pretty much all of them had at least one 'aww' in them.**

**So... moving on :). I hope the trouble with the alerts is over now, though, because judging by your last reviews on Made to be broken, it was really messy - some of you did get alerts, some of you didn't at all, some only got an alert on one of the two added chapters... well, anyway, let me know if it happens again, okay? If it continues to be a problem, I'll try and contact the helpdesk of the site or something :P.**

* * *

When Lori entered her son's bedroom the next morning, the sight before her instantly made her smile.

Fiyero was in his bed, the blankets tucked in securely around him. He was still asleep and snoring slightly. Elphaba was on the bed next to him, lying on top of the blankets, facing Fiyero. He was clutching one of her hands tightly with both his own, but she didn't look like she particularly minded. Lori wasn't sure how the girl had ended up on Fiyero's bed, but she was secretly relieved that she hadn't found Elphaba _in _his bed or she would have been forced to have a very awkward conversation with her son.

Now, she quietly crossed the room to Elphaba's side of the bed and shook the girl gently. 'Elphaba? Wake up, sweetheart.'

Elphaba stirred and blinked a few times as she came back to reality. When she realised that she was lying on Fiyero's bed and that his mother was looking down at her right now, she shot up, trying to wrench her hand free from Fiyero's grip. 'I'm so sorry! I didn't – I mean, we didn't – we'd never…'

Lori put a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. 'I know, Elphaba. Don't worry! I just came to wake you two because Doctor Iaden is here and he wants to take a final look at Fiyero.'

Elphaba let out her breath with relief. 'Oh. Okay.'

Fiyero now stirred as well, disturbed by the absence of Elphaba's hand in his, and he furrowed his brow. 'Fae?'

'Here, Yero.' She took his hand again and he rolled over, opening his eyes and studying her for a moment. 'I had all these weird dreams…' he murmured sleepily. 'But you're not a dream, are you?'

She had to smile at that. 'I'm not.'

He sighed. 'Good.' Then his gaze drifted towards his mother and his eyes widened suddenly. 'Oh. Mom. What are you doing here? I mean, um…'

Lori just chuckled at her son's discomfort. 'As I told Elphaba not even a minute ago, I'm just here to wake you up because the doctor is here. Shall I send him in?'

Fiyero yawned, then quickly clamped one hand over his mouth. 'Sure.'

'Do you want me to leave?' offered Elphaba as Lori left the room, but Fiyero just looked at her as if she'd gone crazy. '_No_. Never.'

Her face darkened a little. 'You might want to reconsider that someday.'

'What do you mean?' he asked, slightly bewildered. She sighed and shook her head. 'Nothing.'

'Not 'nothing'.' He pushed himself up against the pillows and studied her face. 'Fae?' A horrible thought crossed his mind. 'You don't still think I'm going to change my mind, do you?'

She hesitated, shook her head, then nodded, then sighed. 'I just… I think you're making a mistake, and sooner or later you're going to realise that. It's just not possible, Yero, for someone like you to… to really love someone like me.'

'Of course it's possible.' He pulled her back onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her hair. 'Elphie-Fae… I love you.'

She shook her head against his chest. 'No, you don't. You just think you do. But someday, you're going to realise your mistake and you're going to want to have nothing to do with me anymore and I…' Her voice trailed away and she pulled her legs towards her chest, hugging herself. 'I don't know if I could handle that,' she finished in a whisper.

'You don't have to handle it,' he stated firmly, tightening his grip on her, stroking her cheek. 'Hey. Look at me.' She looked up and he met her gaze. 'I'm not going anywhere.'

She let out a shuddering sigh and curled up against him, and he rested his cheek against her hair. She looked up when Doctor Iaden came in. He smiled at them both. 'I see you've found your personal medication, Fiyero. No wonder you're healing so fast.'

Elphaba blushed and Fiyero chuckled. 'It would have gone ten times slower without her.'

Iaden smiled again and took out his instruments. 'Well, let me see.' He listened to Fiyero's heartbeat and breathing and asked him a few questions. 'Do you experience headaches? Dizziness? Pressure on the chest?'

Fiyero shook his head. 'Not really… I get a little dizzy when I get up, sometimes.'

Iaden nodded. 'That's normal. You've been very sick, after all.' He put away his instruments with a satisfied smile. 'I'd say you don't need me anymore. I'd recommend for you to rest a few times a day and to get out in the fresh air as much as possible, but other than that, you can do as you wish.'

Fiyero let out an exaggerated sigh. '_Finally_.'

Lori chortled. 'You're such a drama queen.'

'_Prince _drama queen to you,' said Fiyero, holding up one finger as if to reprimand her. Lori laughed again. Then she looked thoughtful. 'Say, Iaden… would it be recommendable for me to send Fiyero to our summer house in the Southern Vinkus?'

'The combination of a forest, sunshine, lying lazy on the beach, and being outside all day?' Iaden joked. He smiled. 'That would be perfect.'

'What are you planning, Mom?' Fiyero wanted to now. Lori set herself down on the edge of the bed. 'Well… you see, Frex and I never really had our honeymoon.'

They knew that to be true – there had been too many problems in the Vinkus for the Queen and the new King to leave.

'And since we don't know each other all that well…' Lori shook her head. 'We'd like to spend some time alone. Only we can't leave, because there's still too much going on in the Vinkus.'

It started to dawn on Fiyero. 'So instead, you're going to send us all away to our summer home, so that you can have some alone time _here_.'

Lori nodded. 'That was the idea. Do you like it?'

Fiyero grinned at her. 'Are you kidding? That would be amazing.' He squeezed Elphaba's hand. 'I think we could all use a vacation.'

Lori smiled. 'That's settled, then. I suppose you want Paro, Moss, and Laoyar to be there, too?'

'That would be awesome, Mom, thanks,' Fiyero said gratefully. Lori nodded again. 'Okay. So you, Elphaba, Nessarose, Galinda, Boq, Paro, Moss, and Laoyar will leave in a carriage tomorrow, and you'll stay at the lake for, say, a week or so?'

Fiyero nodded his consent and Lori rose. 'Good. I'm going to tell the others and make the arrangements.'

* * *

'I can't believe we're going on a vacation!' squealed Galinda. She was in one carriage with Elphaba, Fiyero, and Paro; Nessa, Boq, Moss, and Laoyar were in the one behind theirs. 'I mean, I used to go on family vacations with Momsie and Popsicle, but I've never been on a vacation with my _friends _before!'

Paro laughed. 'I'm betting it's going to be lots of fun.'

Galinda was bouncing. 'What colour is your swimsuit, Elphie?'

Elphaba bristled. 'That's none of your business!'

'Oh, don't be such a priss, Elphie,' Galinda said, waving one hand in the air dismissively. 'We're all going to see your swimsuit anyway, so you might as well tell us! Is it pink? Please tell me it's pink!'

Elphaba gave her a look. 'Me in a pink swimsuit? Over my dead body, Galinda Upland.'

Galinda smirked at her. 'That could be arranged.'

Elphaba punched her in the arm and Glinda whacked her back. 'And you're not going to wear black when we're there! It's summer season and it will be way too hot for black dresses!'

'I will wear whatever I want to wear!'

'No you don't! I bought you a few amazifying summer dresses and you're going to wear _those_!'

'Ladies, ladies!' Paro held up both his hands. 'Is it going to be like this all the time when we get to the lake?'

'Yes,' came the answer from both girls at the same time. Paro quirked an eyebrow. 'You mean you two are always like this? Even back at Shiz, as roommates?'

Now the two exchanged a sheepish look. 'Um… Yes,' said Elphaba, as Galinda admitted, 'Pretty much.'

Paro buried his face in his hands. 'Oh, Oz.'

Fiyero just grinned at his friend. 'You had no idea what you got yourself into when you started dating Galinda Upland. Believe me, I would know.'

Galinda whacked him and he ducked away, laughing. 'You take that back, Fiyero Tiggular!'

'I dated her for a few months,' Fiyero told his friend with a big grin. 'She drove me completely crazy.' He imitated Galinda, using a squeaky, high voice. 'No, Fifi! You can't wear your blue shirt! It will clash with my dress!'

'It _did _clash with my dress!'

'Oh Fifi, aren't we just _perfect _together?'

'We _were_ perfect together! Until you started,' she wrinkled her nose in disgust, '_thinking_.'

'Yeah…' said Fiyero, with a dreamy look at Elphaba. 'Thinking.'

The green girl rolled her eyes at him, though she was blushing a little. Galinda squealed and beamed at Fiyero. 'Aw… softie!'

Elphaba and Paro chuckled and Fiyero gave his blonde ex-girlfriend a goofy smile. 'Well, hey, I can't help it. Lion Cub Day changed my life.'

Elphaba choked at that and Paro burst out laughing. 'Lion Cub Day? Where did _that _come from?'

Fiyero looked sheepish. 'I told you. We were saving a Lion Cub from class, remember, and that was the day I fell in love with her, so…'

Galinda demanded in a shrill voice, 'You fell in love with her _then_?! You were in love with her for more than _two months_ already before you broke up with me?!'

Fiyero winced. 'Well… um… yeah. I _wanted _to break up with you,' he defended himself. 'But Elphaba wouldn't let me!'

Elphaba smirked at the memory. 'I told him I'd cut off certain _manly _body parts of his if he didn't make it up to Galinda.'

Paro rolled over with laughter and Galinda giggled. 'Oh, Elphie… that is _so _unladylike.'

'Good thing I'm not a lady, then.'

Galinda giggled again, but when she looked back at Fiyero, she frowned. 'You're so mean. I can't believe you didn't tell me earlier!'

He shrugged and sighed. 'I thought I didn't stand a chance with Elphaba, so I… I just stayed with you.'

'You thought you didn't stand a chance with me?' the green girl protested. 'Where have your _eyes_ been all that time?'

'Blinded by your angelic appearance,' declared Fiyero dramatically, and Elphaba buried her face in her hands and moaned mockingly. 'I'm stuck in a carriage with a bunch of idiots.'

'Hey!' all three of them protested, but they were laughing all the same.

The rest of the carriage ride went by fast and when they finally stopped, Elphaba immediately jumped out of the carriage. Galinda scowled at her from inside. 'Elphie, you're supposed to wait for Fiyero to help you down. Ladies don't jump down from carriages on their own.'

'Ladies also don't stick out their tongue,' said Elphaba, before doing just that. Galinda rolled her eyes at her friend. 'You are utterly and completely hopeless,' she declared before allowing Paro to help her out of the carriage, laying her hand in his and smiling at him gracefully. Elphaba rolled her eyes and Fiyero smirked. 'Oh dear, Miss Upland,' he said in a mockingly polite tone of voice, 'I certainly hope our humble summer house will be luxurious enough for you!'

'I certainly hope so too,' said Galinda, raising her chin. 'And it's Miss Galinda Upland of the _Upper _Uplands to you.'

Fiyero's eyes widened in fake shock. 'Oh dear. How could I possibly forget?' He turned to face Paro with a grin. 'I forgot to add the 'of the Upper Uplands' part once when I introduced her.'

Paro looked at his friend, puzzled. 'So?'

Fiyero bent forward conspiringly. 'Don't _ever _make such a horrendible mistake,' he whispered, and Elphaba's eyes twinkled with mischief. 'Was that the time she didn't talk to you for two weeks and declared to every girl on campus that Fiyero Tiggular was the most insensitive and bad-mannered _ass_ in all of Oz?'

Fiyero's eyes widened in real shock now. 'She did that?'

'Yes,' said Galinda in answer to Elphaba's question. 'That was the time.' She smiled sweetly at Paro and patted his cheek. 'So don't say we didn't warn you.'

Just then, the other carriage stopped behind theirs and Elphaba rushed over to help get Nessa down the carriage and into her chair. She pushed her sister towards the others, the boys following close behind. 'So… which way?'

'This way.' Fiyero led them down a path that disappeared into the grasslands. They all followed him downhill for a minute or so, then through a small bit of forest, before Fiyero stopped and pointed at something ahead. 'There it is.'

Elphaba looked and her jaw quite literally dropped. The Tiggular's summer house was beautiful. It was an isolated house, the only one there, for as far as they could see. It was entirely made of wood, which gave it the charisma of a cosy cottage… only Elphaba was pretty sure no real cottage was this enormous.

It was a bungalow, but even with only one floor, Elphaba was convinced that it was at least as big as the Governor's mansion back in Munchkinland, if not bigger. She caught a glimpse of a beautiful garden on the back of the house; behind the garden and to the right of the house, there was some more forest, while to the front and the left, there was a shimmery white and clean beach, which emerged from the crystal clear lake in the middle of the giant clearing. A few small steps led up to the front porch of the bungalow and it had large windows everywhere, allowing the summer sunlight to stream into every room. It was beautiful.

Elphaba just gaped at it. Galinda squealed with delight and Nessa shook her head. 'It's… it's beautiful,' she said in wonder. 'I mean… wow.'

'Wow indeed,' agreed Boq, who lived at a rather small farm back in Munchkinland and found every building bigger than his home impressive. Nessa shook her head again. 'And this is just your _summer house_?!'

'We don't usually spend the summers here anymore,' said Fiyero. 'Paro, Moss, Laoyar and I came here sometimes to give great parties, but no one really uses it anymore these days. You've seen where we live – Adurin Iir is beautiful. We don't really need a summer house.'

Now it was Boq's turn to shake his head, speechless. 'I would kill for a house like that.'

Fiyero shrugged. 'Perhaps I could convince my Mom to give it to your family. Like I said, we don't really use it, anyway.'

Boq's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

Fiyero led them towards the cottage, opening the front door with his key and swinging it open. 'Here we go.'

Elphaba and Moss took Nessa's chair up the stairs and stepped inside. Elphaba's jaw dropped once again. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside, with a warm, cosy interior. There was a fireplace with a rug in front of it and some armchairs and couches around it; there was a bookcase in the far corner, at which Elphaba's eyes immediately lit up, and through a large opening in the wall with an arch above it, they could see into the kitchen, where, Fiyero explained, also the dining room was.

Laoyar had stepped next to Elphaba and was grinning at her. 'Impressed?'

'Very,' she replied in awe, and he laughed. 'Yeah. I remember the first time we came here with all four of our families. We were, like, five years old and totally impressed. We used to climb the wall, right there, you see,' he pointed at the wall next to the arched door opening, 'there are some stones sticking out there… from there, you can just climb on top of the bookcase, which we thought was awesome.'

She chuckled softly, imagining four small boys climbing the giant bookcase. Fiyero grinned at his childhood friend. 'Yeah… those good old times.'

He gave them a small tour, showing them the bedrooms and bathrooms, before telling them to go ahead and unpack for a moment. There was enough room in the house for each of them to have their own bedroom, but Galinda decided it would be much more fun if all three girls would sleep in the same room, while the boys stuck to their separate bedrooms. Galinda bounced all around the room, throwing around clothes and make-up and hair accessories, while the Thropp sisters just watched her in amusement. Elphaba packed away Nessa's things, then her own, and they left for the living room again. It was about dinner time by then, and Fiyero was lingering in the doorway, hesitating.

'What is it?' asked Galinda, frowning a little, and Fiyero raked his fingers through his hair. 'I, um… My Mom refused to let me have servants in here,' he confessed. 'So… we have to do everything ourselves. Clean, and stuff… cook.' He looked rather sheepish. 'I can't cook.'

'None of us can,' Moss grinned, elbowing Paro in the side. 'Remember that time you tried to make us dinner and-'

'Yeah, I remember,' Paro quickly cut him off, but Laoyar explained, grinning as well, 'He was making a turkey for Lurlinemas, and it exploded. The entire kitchen was covered in turkey goo.'

Paro made a face. 'Not one of my best moments.' Galinda just giggled and clung to his arm. 'That's adorable.'

'Don't you know how to cook, Galinda?' asked Fiyero pleadingly. 'You're a girl…'

'Not all girls can cook, Fiyero,' the blonde girl stated firmly. 'And certainly not me.'

'Don't look at me,' Boq declared before anyone could ask him, and Nessa gestured towards her chair. 'I can't even reach the kitchen counter.'

Elphaba looked around the circle in exasperation. 'You guys are all _pathetic_,' she declared, her hands on her hips, before stalking off into the kitchen. The others followed her, a little dazed. 'Can _you _cook?' asked Fiyero curiously.

Nessa rolled her eyes. 'Ask Boq.'

They all looked at the Munchkin boy curiously. Nessa smirked at him. 'Boq used to come over to our place to dine with us every Sunday. Sometimes Wednesdays, too. And every time he came by our house and smelled something good. In fact, I believe Boq would have wanted to eat his every meal at our place, had his mother allowed him to.'

Boq held up his hands in innocence. 'What can I say? Elphaba's cooking is unprecedented.' He licked his lips, his eyes shimmering at the prospect. 'Especially her apple pies…'

'Well, Lori packed us apples in the grocery bags and the other ingredients are there too,' the green girl said over her shoulder, rummaging around in the cupboards. 'I'll make one for dinner.'

Boq nearly drooled. 'I love you, Elphaba.'

She rolled her eyes at him and the others laughed. She then shooed them out of the kitchen. 'Please find something else to do. I don't want you guys to look over my shoulder all the time.'

They all found something to keep themselves busy with until dinner, only Fiyero lingered in the kitchen. 'Did you cook very often back home?'

'Every day,' she replied, mixing a few ingredients in a bowl. Fiyero stared at her. 'Didn't you have servants for that?'

'Sure we did. But Nessa has always preferred my cooking, so Frex wanted me to take care of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and in weekends, I'd bake cakes or pies. I didn't mind, really – I like to cook.'

He sat down on a part of the counter that she didn't use and watched her as she moved around the kitchen. 'So what are you making?'

'You'll see.' She shoved something inside the oven and wiped her hands on her apron. 'It's nameless, really. It's a recipe my mother used to make when she was still alive – or so I assumed, since I found it in one of her books. There's chicken in it, vegetables, potatoes, some other ingredients… I'm sure you'll like it, Mr. Prince, don't worry,' she said mockingly, and he chuckled. 'I'm sure I will.' He watched her again as she started peeling apples and mixing new ingredients for the apple pie. 'Is there anything you _can't _do?' he asked in wonder.

She just threw him a sceptical look over her shoulder.

'No, seriously,' he insisted. 'I mean, you're amazing when it comes to your studies, you can play the piano, you can sing, you can clean, you can cook, you can take care of your little sister…'

'I can't dance, for one,' she said, looking at him for a moment before directing her gaze back at the apples she was peeling.

'I'm sure you can,' he argued, and she scoffed at him, eyeing him with an amused twinkle in her eyes. 'Remember the OzDust?'

'That dance when I broke up with Galinda?' He tried to remember. 'You two danced together then, didn't you? You didn't seem too awful…'

'Not _that _dance,' she said, avoiding his gaze, feeling her cheeks flush with embarrassment at the mere memory. 'The one where I wore the hat.'

'Oh.' He recalled the day and couldn't help but grin. '_That _one.'

'Yeah.' She glared at him. 'That one.'

She went on with what she was doing and Fiyero thought about it for a moment. 'Okay, so you're not a very good dancer,' he conceded, and his face brightened. 'I'll teach you someday. But everything else I can think of, you're good at.'

Elphaba looked at him and started counting off her list on her fingers. 'I'm a social disaster. I can't crochet or knit. I can't ice skate. I'm horrendible when it comes to putting on make-up, or shopping, or combining clothes. I can't swim…'

'Hold on,' he cut her off, staring at her. 'You can't swim?!'

She sighed. 'No. I can't. No one ever cared to teach me.'

'I'll teach you,' he promised. 'Tomorrow.'

She flashed him a faint smile. 'Thanks.' She turned towards the counter again and Fiyero hopped down onto the floor, then swayed a little. 'Whoa,' he said, blinking his eyes. 'Dizzy.'

She was with him in an instant, pulling him off the counter and pushing him down onto a chair. 'Idiot. Doctor Iaden said you had to rest.'

'I did rest,' he protested weakly. 'In the carriage.'

She shook her head. 'Not enough.' She filled a glass of water and made him drink some of it; then she watched him worriedly. 'You okay?'

He nodded, but he looked pale, and she took the glass back from him. 'I'm taking you to your room.'

He started to protest, but she silenced him with one hand gesture and helped him up from the chair, putting her arm around his waist so that he could lean on her. 'Come on, you big oaf.'

They made it to his bedroom together and she helped him lie down and sat on the edge of his bed. 'Try to sleep a bit, okay? I'll save some dinner for you.'

'The apple pie too?' he mumbled, his eyes already half-closed, and she chuckled softly. 'I'll make sure to hide a piece from Boq.'

He reached out to touch her cheek. 'Ice skating and being popular and knitting aren't important skills,' he muttered. 'But everything that matters, you're good at. You're perfect… just being you.'

She tried her hardest to push them back, but tears sprang to her eyes anyway. She still couldn't believe this, that he really loved her… not some popular or beautiful girl, not Galinda, but _her_. That he told her she was perfect…

She leaned down to plant a soft kiss on his lips. 'Sleep, Yero. You need it.'

'Sing for me?'

Not even too long ago, she would have refused. Nessa had been an exception – she wouldn't have sung any song for anyone before. But after everything that had happened, she was more than willing to comply. And so she sang. Not the song from the swing – a different one, another one of the lullabies her mother had taught her.

He was asleep in no time and she returned to the kitchen.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Thaaaaaaank you aaaaaaall for revieeeeeewiiiiiing! :D**

**By the way, guys; I was just reading 'Truth' by Elphaba-WWW (I really recommend her stories, btw) and I was taking a look at the reviews, and I saw that a few of you guys brought up the Frex/Maddy-Fae/Elphaba-WWW hunters xD. That really made me laugh. You guys are awesome. I'm never going to get rid of that, am I? And on top of that, now the March of the Frex Hunters is stuck in my head (btw, Failey, you should totally make those lyrics you wrote for it into some kind of oneshot).**

**So I was listening to yet another perfect Fiyeraba song, and I was like, 'what the heck, if Elphaba and Fiyero are both singing in this story anyways, I might as well put more songs in it'. So I did. Yay. **

**And I have to warn you: this chapter is like, cute, sappy, over-the-top, perhaps even cliché, to most people probably almost sickening, fluff :P. Because I love fluff. And since I'm putting all the torture in Made to be broken, I'm putting all the fluff in here. Don't say I didn't warn you. **

**If you do love fluff, on the other hand, I expect many, many 'aww's for this chapter. **

* * *

When he woke, he was alone, but feeling much better already. He rubbed his eyes and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, then made his way towards the kitchen, where he found Elphaba doing the dishes. She looked up and smiled at him when he walked in. 'Well hello there, sleeping beauty,' she teased him. 'Sleep well?'

'It helped,' he admitted, setting himself down at the table. 'Where are the others?'

'Boq and Nessa have gone to bed early. The boys are swooning over Glinda in the living room.' Elphaba put a plate in front of him. 'I also managed to save you some apple pie – don't ask me how. Boq practically attacked me when I brought it into the dining room.'

He chuckled and attacked his own food. 'Whoa,' he said in surprise as he swallowed his first bite. 'I can understand Boq now – this is amazing!'

She blushed a little. 'Oh, it's nothing.'

Fiyero finished his dinner within minutes and as he took even one bite of the apple pie, he practically started drooling. 'I don't think I ever want to eat anything our own cook makes ever again,' he declared after he'd licked the crumbs off his plate. 'Could I somehow persuade you to come and work for us at Adurin Iir?'

She laughed. 'No. But if you're nice, I might cook dinner for you every once in a while. You know, as some kind of… date, or something.'

He beamed at her. 'I'd love that.'

* * *

They decided to spend the next day on the beach, since the weather was beautiful. It was warm outside and Galinda actually managed to talk Elphaba into wearing one of the summer dresses she had bought for her friend – a dark blue one made of a thin, light fabric. The green girl hated to admit it, but she actually kind of liked the dress.

Galinda, of course, paraded out onto the beach in her bright pink swimsuit, causing Paro, Laoyar, and Moss to nearly stumble over their own feet getting outside as well. Nessa sighed. 'Sometimes I wish I was like Galinda.'

'You're perfect just the way you are,' Boq assured her, and she smiled at the Munchkin boy gratefully. He smiled back, then asked, 'Shall we go outside as well? The beach looks wonderful.'

They all sat themselves down into the warm, white sand, Boq and Nessa sharing a towel en the three boys surrounding Galinda on hers. Fiyero lay down onto his back and closed his eyes, enjoying the hot summer sun. 'So… what colour _is _your bathing suit?'

Elphaba whacked his arm. 'Fiyero!'

'What?' He cracked open one eye. 'I'm still a guy, you know.'

She just rolled her eyes at him and took out the book she'd brought from inside. Fiyero sighed. 'You're not going to _read_, are you?'

'I like to read.'

'I know that. But you should go swimming and sunbathing and do other… things. We're only here for a week, you know. You can still read when we get back.'

She looked at him in amusement. 'Other things?'

His face reddened a little. 'Well… yeah. Like, talking, or… I don't know.'

'Oh, you don't know, do you?' she teased him, and he stuck out his tongue before pulling her down on the towel with him. 'Don't be mean. You know what I'm talking about.' He looked thoughtful for a moment. 'You know, we haven't been on a date yet.'

'But we did kiss. Does that mean we're doing it wrong?'

He grinned at her. 'Who cares? But I must say, I _would _like to go on a date with you when we get back to Shiz…'

'Let's first see if we're still together by then, shall we?' Elphaba said a bit miserably, hugging her knees and resting her chin on top of them, staring out over the lake. Fiyero looked at her, a soft look in his eyes. 'You really don't have faith in us, do you?' he asked. 'You don't trust me. You don't trust my love for you.'

He didn't sound accusatory; he did, however, sound a little disappointed, which she perhaps found even worse. She sighed and kept her gaze fixed on the horizon. 'I trust you, Yero. I swear. I just…' She sighed again. 'I don't trust myself. Even if you really do love me, I'm sure that sooner or later, I'm going to do something to mess it up, like always…'

He gently rested his fingers under her chin and tilted her head, forcing her to meet his gaze. 'Fae… in order for this, for us, to work, you have to let go.'

She snorted sarcastically. 'You know who you're talking to, right?'

He couldn't help but smile a little at that. 'I know how hard that is for you. And I can't promise you that it will work. I'm not a fortune teller. I can't see the future. All I'm asking of you is to have faith. Just close your eyes… and leap.'

'You're asking me to take a leap of fate.' She said it as if it was something unimaginable.

He nodded solemnly. 'Exactly.'

She sighed. 'Yero… I don't know if I can do that. I need… I need security. How can I let go when as far as I know, you can walk away from me any clock-tick?'

He looked shocked and a little hurt. 'Is that what you think? That I'm going to just walk away from you?'

'I don't think you would do that,' she confessed, rocking back and forth. 'But you _could_. You just said it yourself – you can't promise me that this will work. You can't promise me that we will stay together. You can't even promise me that you'll love me forever, because you don't know that for sure.'

He shook his head. 'That's right. I can't.' He took her hands and looked at her intently, his sapphire eyes seeming to look right through her. 'But I can promise you other things. I can promise you that as long as I love you and you love me, I won't give up on us. I promise that if the day ever arises that I don't want to be with you anymore – which I seriously doubt will ever happen – I'll talk to you about it. I won't just walk away from you and abandon you. I could never do that. I also promise you that I'll always be honest with you, about everything. And I promise that as long as you're mine, I will do everything in my power to make this work. Only I need you to promise me the same, Fae. Because quite frankly, if any one of us is ever going to walk away from this, I think it will be you. Not because you don't love me anymore, but because you're scared of what we have.'

She smiled faintly. 'You know me too well.'

He looked slightly crestfallen. 'I hope that's not your way of telling me you were actually considering walking away.'

She laughed softly and slid her arms around his neck, gazing into his blue eyes. 'Of course not. I'm not going to lie to you, Fiyero – I am scared. There's so much that could go wrong. But Yero, after what happened to you… after you got sick… I realised that losing you would be so much scarier than anything that could ever happen if we got together,' she admitted, looking slightly embarrassed at that confession and avoiding his gaze. He tightened his grip on her waist.

'So no,' she continued, looking up and meeting his eyes again. 'I'm not going to walk away. And I promise you, too, to be honest to you and to not give up on us for as long as I still love you. Because I… I can't lose you. I just can't.'

He closed the distance between them and captured her lips in a soft kiss. 'I love you.'

'I love you, too,' she murmured, melting into the kiss and into him. He pulled her back onto the towel with him, tangling one hand in her long raven hair and deepening the kiss, until they heard Laoyar yell, 'Hey, you guys! Get a room!'

They pulled apart, both of them looking slightly flustered, and Galinda grinned at them. 'Oooh. You're so cute together. But seriously – if you're going to go any further than this, you really should get a room.'

Elphaba stuck out her tongue and Galinda giggled. 'I'm going for a swim!' she announced, getting up from the towel. 'Anyone care to join me?'

Paro, Laoyar, and Moss all nearly tripped over each other as they followed her into the lake, and Elphaba rolled her eyes. 'I thought her and Paro were officially a couple now, so why are Moss and Laoyar still chasing her?'

'Because they can,' Fiyero replied, grinning as he looked at his friends. 'And to piss off Paro, probably.'

She rolled her eyes again. 'I'll never understand men.'

'You don't have to.' He kissed her again, then rose from his towel and extended his hand towards her. 'Come on. Let me teach you how to swim.'

She stared at him with wide eyes. 'What? Now?'

'I promised, didn't I?' he said, smiling at her encouragingly. She fumbled with the hem of her dress. 'I don't know…'

'I won't let anything happen to you.'

'I know that, but…'

'And I promise I won't say anything about your swimsuit.'

She glared at him. 'Oh, so that's what this is? An attempt to get to see me in my swimsuit?'

He chuckled. 'Aw, come on, Fae.'

She finally sighed and let him pull her to her feet. 'Fine. But if you let me drown, I'm going to kill you.'

'Fair enough,' he said, his eyes twinkling as he watched her pull off her dress, then pulled her towards the water with him. 'I know I said I wouldn't mention the swimsuit, but it looks good on you.'

She scowled at him, but his grin only widened. Plus, it wasn't as if he was lying. Her swimsuit was a dark purple, a colour she didn't wear very often, but it did look good on her. He looked at her and just couldn't help but smile at the thought that after all this time secretly loving her from a distance, she was really his now.

He suddenly stopped and pulled her to a halt, almost causing her to lose her balance. 'Yero, what-' she started, but he just pulled her to him and kissed her again, long and deep.

'What was that for?' she asked breathlessly as they pulled apart, and he grinned at her goofily. 'Because I can.'

She returned his grin before pulling him further into the lake with her.

* * *

He spent the next few hours teaching her how to swim, keeping a firm grip on her waist as he told her how to move her arms and legs. After a while, she managed to swim on her own and he let her go. She was a fast learner and before too long, she dived underwater, her black silken hair flowing behind her like some kind of mysterious sea weed. He watched her go under with a smile, but grew worried when she didn't come up again. 'Fae?'

She had gone so deep that he couldn't even see her anymore, and he started to panic. 'Fae!' He dove under too, to look for her, whirling around in the water, but stopping when he caught sight of her. She was swirling through the water in complicated patterns, as if doing an underwater dance of her very own, and she looked completely in her element. He watched her with a smile as she went up for air and he followed her, breaking through the surface. 'I thought you were drowning!' he spluttered, and she chuckled softly. 'Don't worry. I was just discovering what I've been missing all these years. It's really beautiful underwater.'

'You're really beautiful underwater,' he told her earnestly, and she splattered some water in his direction. 'You're hopeless.'

He flashed her a dazzling grin. 'I know.'

That night, after Elphaba had made them all a wonderful dinner again, they gathered around the fireplace in the living room. Fiyero managed to get a fire going and Galinda sighed happily. 'This is like camping, only inside. Which I prefer, by the way. I went camping with my parents once – can you believe that? – and we were in a tent, and then there was a spider and-'

'Lin,' Elphaba interrupted her sternly, and Galinda stopped her rambling. 'Right. That's beside the point. Anyway, the point is that I like this.'

'Me, too,' Nessa admitted, resting her head on Boq's shoulder. He had his arm slung around her shoulders and they looked perfectly content together.

Paro, who had been gone for the past few minutes, came back into the room carrying two guitars and a big grin on his face. 'Yero, remember these?'

Fiyero looked up and his face lit up. 'Oh, are they still here? After all these years?'

'We used to play the guitar when we came here as younger boys,' Paro explained to the others as he sat down, fidgeting with the strings a little, tuning the instrument. Fiyero took the other one and stroked the wood. 'I thought mine was lost a long time ago.'

'I didn't know you could play the guitar,' said Galinda, and Fiyero smiled, a faraway look in his eyes as he remembered the days he had spent here with his friends and family, so many years ago. 'I'm not sure I still can, to be completely honest. I haven't played in years. But I suppose I could give it a try…' He touched the strings, then started playing a melody. Paro studied his friend's hands for a moment, determining the chords and strings Fiyero was playing, then joined in. It sounded quite good together.

Fiyero looked at Elphaba, sitting next to Galinda across from him, for a moment, before turning his attention back to his guitar as he started to sing softly. 'When I look into your eyes, it's like watching the night skies, or a beautiful sunrise… there's so much they hold.' He met Elphaba's gaze, and was smiling slightly as he went on. 'And just like them old stars, I see that you've come so far, to be right where you are… how old is your soul?'

She could see so much in those azure eyes, so much love, so much she had never expected to see in anyone's eyes – not when they were looking at her, anyway. But here he was, voicing his feelings for her perfectly in a song, showing them in those eyes… how could she ever doubt his love for her? Or her love for him, for that matter? How could she ever feel anything but secure and confident about how things would go between them? In that moment, she felt so much love and pride for him that she thought she would burst, and before she knew it, she had opened her mouth and was singing the chorus for him, straight from her heart.

'I won't give up on us, even if the skies get rough, I'm giving you all my love, I'm still looking up…'

Fiyero's smile could compete with the sun. Paro joined in with him for the next verse, but everyone else was just watching silently, filled with awe. Nessa shifted closer to Boq and he kissed her hair; Galinda was watching her boyfriend sing and play with tears in her dark blue eyes, sniffling slightly and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief; even Moss and Laoyar were unusually silent, because even they could feel the magic of the moment.

Fiyero closed his eyes, belting out the next notes from the tips of his toes. ''Cause even the stars they burn, some even fall to the earth, we got a lot to learn… Oz knows we're worth it.' He opened his eyes again and looked straight at Elphaba. 'No, I won't give up…'

Paro looked at his friend and smiled at the look he saw in Fiyero's eyes, the soft expression on his face. He had never expected _Fiyero_, of all people, to fall in love like this, but it was clear that he had. And he had fallen hard. Paro looked at Elphaba and his smile widened. They complemented each other perfectly, Paro decided. They were just perfect together and Elphaba was a really nice girl. He was happy for his friend.

Then he looked at Galinda, sitting next to the green girl. She looked up at him and he winked at her, causing her to blush slightly. He chuckled to himself and a warm feeling spread through him. _Fiyero isn't the only one of us who has fallen hopelessly in love._

The two friends sang together again, the words meant for both their girlfriends. 'I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily, I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make…'

Elphaba knew that Fiyero meant it when he sang to her that he was there to stay. She fought back the tears that suddenly threatened to fall – for once in her life, they were tears of happiness instead of grief or pain or sorrow. But instead of crying, she sang with Fiyero this time.

'I had to learn what I've got and what I'm not and who I am…' Her beautiful voice, the sound of their voiced mixed together, reminded him of the duet they had sang at Lori and Frex's wedding. Had that really only been less than two weeks ago? He smiled at the memory. He loved to sing with her in any circumstances, but he knew this song, this moment, right here and now, was a defining moment in their relationship. He knew that by singing this song, these words, with him, she was doing what he had asked her to do. She was letting go and taking a leap of faith with him.

And he felt as if his heart might burst with joy.

The three of them sang the final chorus together, Fiyero not taking his eyes off Elphaba and her smiling shyly, but not looking away. When they finished, the entire room was silent for a while. The only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the fire in the fireplace.

Then Galinda burst out into tears. 'That was so beau-hu-hu-hutiful!' she wailed, flinging herself into Paro's arms, but looking at Elphaba and Fiyero, tears quite literally streaming down her face. 'Fifi! Elphie… that was ama-ha-hazing!' She buried her face in Paro's neck. He chuckled slightly and enveloped her in his arms lightly.

Nessa was crying, too, and even Boq's eyes were suspiciously misty. 'Galinda?' asked Nessa with a soft sniffle. 'Do you happen to carry around a spare handkerchief?'

Before Galinda could respond, Laoyar wordlessly pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Nessa. Both him and Moss were still silent, filled with awe. 'Whoa,' Laoyar finally broke the silence. 'That was… intense.'

'You could say that,' Moss mumbled, slightly taken aback. Galinda finally lifted her head to look at Paro. 'You sang, too… Did you sing it for me?' she whispered, and he kissed her forehead. 'Who else would I have sang it for?'

That caused her to burst out into tears all over again. 'You are the… bestest… boyfriend… _ever_!' she managed to choke out between sobs, and everyone had to laugh a little at that, breaking the emotional tension that had hung over them.

* * *

They didn't stay up long after that. Boq and Nessa both went to bed early, as they usually did – Nessa because her health had always been fragile and she needed much sleep; Boq because, as a farmer's son, he was used to going to sleep early and rising again at an unearthly time, usually before sunset, to start carrying out the farmer's work before it would be too hot, and he just wanted to stick to his usual routine. Moss and Laoyar followed not long after that, both of them still slightly stunned by the intensity of the evening.

Elphaba talked Fiyero into going to bed right after that, because he still wasn't completely healed. She offered to leave Paro and Galinda alone then, but they declined. 'Please stay here, Elphie,' said Galinda pleadingly. 'I want to talk to you.'

'Do you want _me _to leave, then?' Paro offered, but Galinda shook her head, her curls bouncing. 'I don't _ever _want you to leave.'

'Aren't we clingy?' Elphaba teased her friend gently as she sat down onto the thick rug in front of the fireplace. Galinda scowled at her. 'Look who's talking.'

'I'm not clingy.'

Galinda heaved a sigh in defeat. 'No, you're right… you're not. And yet you guys are just like… like… I don't know. True love gone real, or something. You know, what you always read about in love stories…'

'Do I strike you as the type of person that reads love stories?' asked Elphaba drily, and Galinda giggled. 'No. But I do read them, and I've always wanted to have such a true love thing like in those stories… and now you have it, Elphie. It's so obvious when you look at each other…' She looked up at Paro and smiled. 'But then again, perhaps I found it, too.'

He returned her smile and Galinda turned back to Elphaba, her face solemn. 'Elphie… I need to ask you a question and you have to answer honestly.'

'Sure, Lin.'

'Promise me,' Galinda insisted. Elphaba sighed. 'I promise.'

'Pinky swear?' asked Galinda, and her friend glared at her. 'Would you just ask me already?'

'Okay.' Galinda narrowed her eyes at the dark-haired girl across from her. 'When Fiyero woke up from his coma-like thingy… that was rather sudden. There had been no signs of improvement before that.'

'True,' said Elphaba, not sure where her friend was going with this. 'But that's not uncommon, you know – the fever just needed to break and after that, he got better soon.'

'Still,' Galinda insisted. 'I find it suspicious. Especially since not too long before that, I had suggested you do something… something you found ridiculous, but that always works in those true love stories I was just telling you about.'

Elphaba's eyes widened slightly as she realised what her friend was talking about and Paro looked confused. 'What do you mean, hon?'

Galinda looked into Elphaba's eyes sternly. 'True love's kiss.'

Paro chuckled. 'Oh, Linny, I love your sense of romance. You think Elphaba woke Fiyero up by kissing him? That's really cute, honey, but I don't think…'

'Elphie,' the blonde girl interrupted her boyfriend, ignoring him completely. 'Did you kiss him when he was still unconscious?'

A dark red blush crept up Elphaba's cheeks. That was really all Galinda needed to know.

She squealed. 'You did, didn't you? You kissed him!'

'It was just one kiss!' Elphaba defended herself. 'And it had nothing to do with him waking up! Nothing at all!' Even though the timing had been rather suspicious… or just coincidental. 'There's no such thing as a true love's kiss, Lin!'

But Galinda was smirking, feeling incredibly smug. 'Tell yourself whatever you want, Elphie. But you've woken Fiyero with a true love's kiss. Seriously, they should write a love story about the two of you sometime – I would totally read it. Love, love, love…' she sang, and Elphaba rolled her eyes and rose to her feet. 'I'm going to bed.'

'Am I annoying you?' Galinda asked with a wide grin, and Elphaba glared at her. 'To be perfectly honest, yes, you are.'

Galinda smirked. 'Doesn't matter. I was right! True love's kiss!'

'_Goodnight_, Galinda,' Elphaba said through clenched teeth before taking off in the direction of her shared bedroom.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: More fluff. Sigh. :P Just a few more chapters left, I think... But I'm already writing another story :3. I know, I know, I'm a bad person, writing three (four, if you count the drabbles; five, if you count the Glee/Wicked crossover; and very much more if you count my original stories) at a time, but I can't help myself :').**

**Oh, btw, the Netherlands came in ninth at the Eurovision Song Contest :). My personal favourite was Ukraine - can you blame me? Their song was called 'Gravity'! (That wasn't really the reason why they were my favourite, but it might have had something to do with it :3.)**

* * *

When Elphaba quietly entered the bedroom, Nessa was asleep already. The green girl quickly changed into a nightgown – a sky blue one Galinda had bought for her; the colour of Fiyero's eyes, she couldn't help but notice – and went to bed herself. She could hear Paro and Galinda go to bed not too long thereafter, but even when Galinda's breathing evened out and everyone seemed to have fallen asleep, Elphaba was still staring at the ceiling, wide awake. Finally, she gave up and got out of bed, moving towards the kitchen to find herself some hot milk with honey.

She passed Fiyero's bedroom door on her way there, and she slowed down a little, hesitant. She knew he probably wouldn't mind if she went in. She had only fallen asleep in his room once – not counting the times she had slept there while he had been unconscious – but she knew he liked to have her close to him. And she liked it, too, she admitted to herself. She had been so scared to lose him, she _had _almost lost him; and though she knew it was silly, she still felt anxious sometimes when he wasn't anywhere she could see him. She snorted softly at the mere thought. It was just so _stupid_. As if he would disappear, or die, if he went out of her sight. But still, she couldn't help it.

She shifted a little, still hesitating. _Go in or not go in? _Going in meant getting to lie with him, having him close, but it also meant showing herself vulnerable – something she still, despite everything that had happened, absolutely _loathed _doing. Not going in meant having to sleep by herself, but it also meant not disturbing him from _his _sleep – sleep he needed badly, since he was far from completely healed.

She made up her mind and continued on her way towards the kitchen. She warmed up some milk and poured honey into her cup, sitting herself down at the kitchen table and staring out of the window. So much had been going on lately, she had barely found herself any time to think. First Frex's marriage to Lori, their moving to the Vinkus, and then everything happening between her and Fiyero… it had been confusing, to say the least. And then the yellow fever epidemic – her stomach twisted at the mere memory. She didn't think she'd ever been more afraid in her entire life than during the days that Fiyero had been sick. She shivered involuntarily and tightened her grip around her cup, taking a small sip from it and heaving a sigh.

She wasn't having second guesses about being with him. Not anymore. But she wasn't really sure how she felt about it. She had agreed to let go, and that night, while singing with hem, she had felt strong and loved and actually _able _to not think anymore, to just give in. But now that she was alone and thinking again, doubts started to kick in again. Endless 'what if's roamed through her mind. What if he would fall out of love with her? What if she messed up? What if the Vinkuns wouldn't accept their Crown Prince loving his stepsister? What if the students at Shiz would laugh at them? A chill crept down her spine at that thought. _They hate me. They love Fiyero. What if I drag him down by being with him? What if all the other students would tease him because he is with me, or laugh at him, or shun him? Prince Fiyero Tiggular and the Artichoke. What a joke is that…_

_Don't think like that,_ a stern voice in the back of her head, sounding suspiciously like Fiyero, told her. _He loves you and you love him. What else matters?_

Thoughts about true love's kisses, angry Vinkuns, songs, swings, Fiyero, and laughing Shiz students swirled around in her mind until they gave her a headache. She sighed and took another sip of her milk. She knew she needed to stop worrying, or she'd never get to sleep again, but she just didn't know how to stop.

She was so deeply lost in thought that she didn't hear the footsteps approaching, and when someone suddenly entered her line of vision, she jumped, nearly knocking over her mug. 'Fiyero! You scared the living daylights out of me!'

Fiyero, looking rather startled himself, put a hand over his heart. 'Likewise. I hadn't expected to find anyone here in the middle of the night.'

'Likewise,' she echoed, making him smile. He pulled out a chair and sat down opposite her. 'So what _are _you doing here in the middle of the night?'

'Drinking milk.' She held up her cup. 'Want some, too?'

'I can make some myself-' he started, but by then, she had already gotten up and was rummaging around the kitchen, making him some milk as well. 'I was just hoping some warm milk would help me get to sleep.'

He looked incredulous. 'You haven't slept at all yet?'

She shrugged. 'I've always had trouble sleeping. Only tonight more so than usual,' she grumbled softly, adding honey to his milk and putting the cup on the table in front of him.

'Thanks.' He held the mug with both hands and followed her with his eyes as she cleaned up the things she'd used and sat back down on her chair again. 'How come? That you couldn't sleep?'

She gave him a wry smile. 'I've got a lot to think about.'

His eyes widened in mock horror. 'Oh, no.'

Her smile turned into a half-hearted grin. 'Exactly.'

He laughed, but then became serious again for a moment. 'You okay?'

'Fine,' she said. He nodded and drank some of his milk, studying her all the while. She shifted a bit uncomfortably. 'What about you? Why are _you _here in the middle of the night?'

'I woke up,' he said.

She rolled her eyes. 'I can see that. I mean, why?'

He turned the mug round and round in his hands. 'I had a nightmare,' he confessed. 'I couldn't get to sleep again.'

She glanced at him. 'You okay?'

He gave her a lopsided half-smile. 'Yeah.'

She kept her gaze fixed on him, however, and he got the feeling that her dark eyes were seeing right through him. They both sat in silence for a while, him staring down into his cup, her stirring the milk round and round with a small spoon. Finally, she let out a small laugh. 'So what happened to us promising that we'd be honest with one another?'

His head snapped up, amazed that she saw right through him, but when he looked at her, he knew he wasn't the only one who had been lying. He decided to give in first, though. 'Fine. I'm not okay.'

'Me, neither,' she admitted in a small voice. 'I'm just so…'

'Scared?' he offered and she smiled bleakly. 'Yeah.'

'I was on my way to your room,' he said softly. 'My dream… it was like the hallucinations I had. You know, about you…'

About her dying, she knew. He sighed. 'I wanted to make sure you were okay – okay, no, that wasn't all, I just… needed you with me. But then I thought of Galinda and Nessa sleeping in the same room as you, and I didn't want to disturb either of you, so I decided to go here instead.'

'I wanted to go to your room, too,' she confessed, feeling sheepish. 'Only I didn't, because I thought you were asleep and you need your rest…'

They stared at each other for a while. Then she let out a helpless giggle and he laughed, too, shaking his head. 'We're so stupid,' she said in exasperation, and he nodded, still smiling. 'Next time you have a nightmare and need me, just come to my room, okay?' she continued. 'I don't mind you waking me, and both Galinda and Nessa sleep like logs – you could drop a bomb in the room and they'd sleep through it. I don't want you letting me sleep when you're feeling alone, Yero.'

'You, too,' he said, reaching over the table to take her hand and squeezing it gently. 'Next time you want to come into my room, just do. Sure, I need to rest and stuff, but you're more important than that. Plus I sleep much better with you near me, anyway.'

She had to smile at that, and somehow with his words, with yet another proof of his love for her, all of her worries melted away.

He emptied his cup and set it down on the counter with a sigh. 'Well, I'm going to get back to bed. Thanks for the milk. Goodnight, Fae.'

She just looked at him, one eyebrow arched. 'You're going back to bed by yourself now again? Alone?'

'Seeing with my own eyes that you are alright helped,' he admitted. 'And I don't want to push you,' he added a bit shyly, at which she shook her head and rose as well, putting away her own cup before turning back to him. 'You couldn't push me if you wanted to,' she told him. 'You know me – if I don't want to do anything, I won't do it. But you can always ask.'

He looked at her a bit hesitantly. 'Okay… Do you… want to come back to my room with me?' He looked a little anxious, as if he was expecting her to reject him, but she just smiled at him softly and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against his chest. 'Please.'

He closed his eyes and breathed in her scent for a moment. She smelled something exotic – a mix of coconuts, flowers, and… well, just _her_. He rested his cheek against her soft black hair and wished he could just stay like this, with her in his arms, forever.

She yawned and he lifted her up in his arms, carrying her effortlessly towards his bedroom and setting her down onto his bed. He crawled under the blankets with her and tucked her in, and he felt her tense for a moment. 'I'm not asking for anything here,' he whispered to her. 'Just sleeping, okay?'

She half-turned to face him. 'But you're a guy.'

He felt a bit offended, but the slightly confused look on her face made him laugh softly. 'So just because I'm a guy, you think I want to do… well, _that_?'

'Don't you?' she demanded, and his cheeks went an even darker shade of red – thank Oz it was too dark in the room for her to see that. 'Well…' He hesitated. 'I won't say that I don't. I do. But I'd never do anything you're not comfortable with, Fae. I love you, and this isn't a light decision to make; I'm leaving it completely up to you. If you want it, then I want it too. If you don't, then I'll wait forever if I have to.'

She snuggled closer to him and sighed happily, nuzzling his neck. 'I love you so much.'

He buried his face in her hair and that's how they both fell asleep.

* * *

Elphaba woke in the morning to Fiyero tossing and turning, limbs flailing, almost knocking her out of the bed in the process. He was whimpering and crying in his sleep, and for a moment, she feared that his fever had returned and he was having hallucinations again. He moaned her name, and she gently shook him, trying to rouse him. 'Yero?' She stroked his hair away from his face and gently caressed his cheek. 'Yero, it's okay. I'm right here. Come on, wake up.'

He became still again as his eyes snapped open, but it took him some time to really wake up and focus on her. 'Fae?' he croaked out, and she tenderly brushed another lock of hair from his forehead. 'I'm here, Yero. You were just dreaming.' At least, she hoped it had been just that; luckily, his skin didn't seem feverish. 'I'm right here.'

His arms shot out and he crushed her against him, his grip on her so tight it was almost painful, but she didn't dare protest, because she knew he needed this. She tried to imagine him waking from such a dream by himself, with no one there to comfort him; and suddenly she understood perfectly why he had wanted to come to her room earlier. She felt a little guilty that she hadn't been here for him then, even though that wasn't her fault at all. She would, however, be here for him now.

He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and just held her, so close that he could feel her heartbeat against his chest, which calmed him down a little. He held her until his own and breathing slowed and she pulled away just enough to be able to look at him. 'Yero?'

'I'm okay,' he breathed, but she knew that wasn't true and he knew that she knew that. He was still trembling, she could feel it, and she rested her forehead against his, arms tight around his neck, looking into his eyes. 'I'm really here, Fiyero. And I'm not going anywhere.' Her voice lowered to a whisper. 'I promise.'

He moaned softly and buried his face in her long hair. She coaxed him back out, however, to plant a soft kiss on his lips. That seemed to snap him out of it somehow, and before either of them knew it, he was kissing her deeply, his fingers tangled in her hair, using his other hand on her back to press her closer to him, unable to get enough. She happily surrendered to him and he just kissed her endlessly, every inch of soft green skin he could find, pulling her body flush against him, to convince himself that she was real, that he was real, that they were both real and very much alive.

'Fiyero…' she breathed, almost a moan, and he forced himself to pull back, his eyes dark. 'We should stop,' he said.

'We should, shouldn't we?' she murmured, fingers trailing down his chest as she planted soft kisses on his shoulder and his collarbone.

He tightened his grip on her shoulders and pulled away, breathing heavily. 'No, seriously. We should stop. I meant what I said earlier, I don't want to rush you into anything, but if we go on, I don't think I can help myself.'

'And if I don't want you to help yourself?' she asked in a low, husky voice that drove him completely crazy. He looked at her, blinking. 'What?'

'I love you, Fiyero,' she said, propping herself up on one elbow. 'I was just thinking earlier, and… well… perhaps you're right. Perhaps I should let go.'

'I didn't mean it like that,' he said, and she shook her head. 'I know. But I do. I trust you, Yero, and I love you, and… and I want you.'

He groaned. 'Your father would kill you.'

'When did that ever stop me?' she murmured, nuzzling his neck, and he couldn't come up with another argument after that. He kissed her again, his hand trailed up her sides…

…and just then, the door to his bedroom opened.

'Fiyero? I can't find Elphie anywhere, and-' Galinda cut herself off when she saw them. '_Oh_. Guys… When I said 'get a room' yesterday, I didn't mean literally.'

'Nothing happened!' Elphaba said quickly, ignoring Fiyero muttering, 'Yet,' under his breath.

Galinda didn't seem convinced, however, and she cleared her throat uncomfortably. 'Um… Okay. Well, I'll just leave you-'

'Galinda? Did you find her?' Nessa rolled herself in front of the open door and stopped dead in her tracks there, staring at her sister. Paro soon followed, faltering as he saw the commotion in the hallway. 'Um… Guys? What are we looking at- oh.' He quirked an eyebrow.

'Nothing happened!' Elphaba repeated, sounding a bit too desperate, and Paro shook his head and took Galinda's arm. 'Come on, Linny, don't stand there gaping at them. I think you've ruined the mood for them anyway.'

'You could say that,' grumbled Fiyero, and Nessa finally found her voice. 'Elphaba!' she started angrily. 'You said you wouldn't do this! You _can't _do this! Do you know what people would think? Have you got any idea how mad _father _will be if he finds out that you…'

'_Nothing happened_!' Elphaba yelled in exasperation. 'I swear! We were just sleeping!'

'And kissing,' added Fiyero helpfully, at which she glared at him. Nessa hesitated. 'Nothing else? You swear?'

Elphaba nodded solemnly. 'On mother's grave.'

Nessa's face softened. 'Okay then. I'm sorry.' She left, closing the door behind her, and Elphaba buried her face in the blanket. 'Oz, that was embarrassing.'

He chuckled softly and stroked her hair. 'Well… perhaps it's best that nothing happened.'

She looked up at him in alarm. 'Why would you say that? You don't want to, do you? Of course you don't want to, who would ever want to do that with me? - only you're too much of a gentleman to say so, so you just-'

He pressed his finger against her lips. 'Fae.' He rested his forehead against hers. 'I want to. I want _you_. How can you even think I don't? But I know that you don't have much experience in this area…'

'None at all,' she muttered, and he kissed her nose. 'Exactly. Like I said, I don't want to rush you. Perhaps we should just take things slow.'

She heaved a sigh. 'Fine.' She rested her head against his shoulder and he slid his fingers through her silky tresses. 'I don't want to get up.'

'Me, neither,' she admitted. 'I don't want to face Galinda again. Or Nessa.' She flushed at the mere thought and Fiyero chuckled again. 'They'll be fine. Why don't we just wait until they've gone off to the beach? Then we have the whole house to ourselves.'

She let her head fall back to look at him, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. 'Oooh. I see what you mean there,' she said suggestively, and he playfully pinched her nose. 'Not what I was talking about.'

She sighed and snuggled closer to him. 'No, but seriously. That sounds awesome.'

The door opened again and Boq poked his head around it. 'Nessa and Galinda want to know if you're coming to the beach with us.'

'We'll be there later,' Fiyero assured him. 'We'll stay here for an hour or so for some... quality time, okay?'

Boq looked decidedly uncomfortable. 'Sure.' He hesitated, then looked at Elphaba. 'Can Nessa swim?'

She smiled and nodded. 'She can, a little, but you have to stay near her to support her. You can take her into the water if you want to, but don't let her out of your sight for even a clock-tick,' she warned him, and he nodded. 'Got it. I'll take care of her. Promise.' With that, he closed the door and left the couple alone.

After a while, Elphaba got out of bed to make them both breakfast, which they ate in Fiyero's bed together; after that, they just lay there for a while, fingers entwined, not saying much. It was nearly afternoon before they decided to get up and walk over to the beach themselves.

Galinda smiled at them as they came closer, then squealed as she saw that Elphaba was wearing a _white _summer dress Galinda had bought her. 'Elphie! That dress looks amazifying on you!'

Elphaba shook her head, but smiled nonetheless. 'Thanks, Galinda, but you have to thank Fiyero. He insisted I wear this one.'

'Thanks, Fifi,' Galinda giggled, and Fiyero rolled his eyes. 'I did it for me. Not for you.'

Elphaba sighed. 'Oh, Oz, you two are unbelievable.' She searched the beach with her eyes. 'Where's Nessa?'

'Swimming with Boq,' Galinda pointed. Moss and Laoyar just came out of the lake, dripping wet. Laoyar shook his head, sending water drops flying in all directions. 'This is, like, paradise,' he declared. 'Now all I need is a bunch of beautiful girls,' he looked at Elphaba and Galinda and corrected himself, '_available _beautiful girls, and then I want to stay here forever.'

Fiyero laughed. 'Glad you still like it here.'

'Hey Boq!' Moss called. 'Care to come build a sand castle with us?'

Fiyero's eyes lit up. 'Ooh. Sand castle.'

Elphaba laughed and swatted at his arm. 'You're such a child.' Paro seemed equally enthusiastic as Boq splashed through the water and fell down in the sand next to them. 'Do we have buckets?'

'We use our hands,' declared Fiyero. 'We're real men.'

Galinda giggled. 'Oh, yeah. Real men. I wish I could take a picture of this.'

Suddenly, Elphaba's eyes widened. 'Boq? Where's Nessa?'

He pointed towards the lake. 'She said I could go, that she could get back by herself.'

'I don't see her.' Elphaba peered at the lake. 'Nessa?'

She thought she saw something, but it was gone again after a moment, and she knew her sister had gone under. 'Nessa!'

* * *

**Oeh. Cliffie. I thought my last cliffie had been a while, so... yeah :P.**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Oh, you guys... don't you worry, I wouldn't kill Nessa! (Not in this story, at least.) **

**I personally really enjoyed writing the bookcase-part. You'll see what I'm talking about later in this chapter.**

**Oh, and by the way: a shout out to BlueD for actually doing the brainless-thing from one of my drabbles to her friend. I love you for that! Like, seriously - I'm so proud of you! *wipes away sentimental tear***

**I have two favourite lines in this chapter. Can you guess what they are? :) (And which ones do you like yourself? I'd like to know.)**

* * *

Without thinking, Elphaba ran into the lake, swimming towards her sister as fast as she could, accidentally taking in gulps of water in the process. She reached the spot where she had seen something and dived under a few times before she could locate her sister and dragged her to the surface. 'Nessa!'

'Fabala?' The girl coughed and Elphaba felt immensely relieved. 'Hold on, I'll take you back,' she told her sister and she started to swim back in the direction of the beach.

The others were standing there waiting, anxious looks on their faces, and Paro and Laoyar quickly went into the water to take Nessa from Elphaba. Galinda hovered over the other girl, wrapping a towel around her, while Boq ran towards her, looking as pale as she had ever seen him. 'I'm sorry, Nessa…'

'It's okay,' the girl assured him between coughs. 'I'm fine.'

'Elphaba?' they heard Moss call anxiously and they all turned around. The green girl had collapsed in the sand, coughing up even more water than Nessa had. Fiyero immediately went to her side, eyes dark with concern. 'Fae?'

She waved her hand in the air dismissively. 'I'm… fine,' she gasped between coughs. When the worst of the coughing was over, she pushed a wet strand of hair away from her face and gave Boq her most bone-chilling glare. 'How _could_ you?!' she demanded in a dangerously low voice. 'I _told _you you couldn't leave her alone. You promised! You promised you would take care of her!' Her voice rose as she spat the words at him, sending her into another coughing fit, but she somehow managed to keep her dangerous glare intact, which was pretty impressing.

Boq went even paler. 'I'm so sor-'

'She could have died!' Elphaba now practically screeched at him. 'Nessa could have _died_ because of you! How could you do this?! How could you leave her alone?!'

'Fae, calm down,' said Fiyero sternly. 'You're going to give yourself a heart attack.'

'He almost killed my sister, Fiyero!' She was trembling now, and Moss gingerly put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down as Paro lifted Nessa and brought her over to her sister. 'Fabala, it's okay,' Nessa said gently as Paro set her down onto the sand and she reassuringly squeezed her sister's hand. 'I'm okay. It wasn't his fault, I told him he could go. It was my own fault, really.'

Elphaba wrapped both her arms around her sister and hugged her close, closing her eyes for a moment. Nessa was slightly baffled for a clock-tick – Elphaba almost never voluntarily hugged her, or anyone, really, and certainly not like this. 'Fabala?'

Elphaba took a deep breath and pulled back. 'I'm fine.' She looked past Nessa to Boq, who looked extremely guilty. 'I'm sorry, Boq. I shouldn't have snapped like that.'

'Oh, no, it's okay,' he assured her. 'I deserved it. It was my fault, and I'm sorry. I really am.'

Elphaba exhaled audibly, feeling the tension slowly leave her muscles and the adrenaline fade away. 'It's okay.' She took another deep breath and exhaled again. 'Okay. I understand. I'm not mad at you.'

Nessa hugged her sister again and Elphaba eyed her anxiously. 'Are you sure you're alright?'

'I'm fine,' Nessa assured her. 'I wasn't underwater for that long, and I almost didn't take in any water. You probably took in more than I did.'

Elphaba nodded. 'Okay. Good.' She looked up at the boys. 'Someone take care of her, please?'

'I'll take you to your room, Nessa,' offered Laoyar, and Galinda nodded. 'I'll find you some dry clothes. And would you like something to eat, Nessa? Or a drink?' She walked beside Laoyar as he carried the crippled girl inside the house, and the blonde kept chattering at the both of them.

Fiyero helped Elphaba to her feet, despite her swatting at him and telling him firmly that she wasn't an invalid, and he kept eyeing her worriedly. 'Are you sure you're okay?'

'Ask me that question one more time and someone else around here is _not _going to be okay,' she grumbled, glaring at him dangerously, and he backed off.

Boq seemed to fear for his life, because he avoided her for the rest of the day; he went into town with Laoyar and Paro when he heard there was a fun fair there. With her boyfriend gone, Galinda got extremely bored, and she whined and bothered Elphaba until the green girl gave in and took the blonde to town as well to go shopping. 'But no more than two hours,' she told her friend sternly, and Galinda pouted. 'Elphie…'

'_Two hours._'

'Let's go, then!' the blonde screeched, dragging her friend into a store. 'Time is ticking away!'

She took piles of summer dresses with her to the dressing rooms and flung half of them into Elphaba's fitting room. 'Try these!'

Elphaba grunted. 'Lin…'

'_Try them!_'

She rolled her eyes and dressed herself in a light gray dress with a pattern in black and white. At least the colours didn't clash with her skin, and when she came out again, Galinda squealed. 'Oh! Elphie! You look so _pretty_!'

She talked Elphaba into buying another four dresses and after that, they went to have some ice cream at the fair. When they sat down at a table, Elphaba looked at her friend hesitantly. 'Galinda? Can I ask you something?'

'Anything, Elphie, you know that,' the blonde said, poking with her spoon at her strawberry ice cream. Elphaba took a deep breath. 'Have you ever…' She faltered, and Galinda glanced up at her curiously. 'I mean, did you…' The blonde girl quirked an eyebrow. 'I mean, you've had boyfriends, right?'

'I've _dated _boys,' Galinda corrected her. 'It's not the same. But yes, I've also had a boyfriend or two in the past. Why do you ask?'

Elphaba fumbled with the table cloth. 'Did you ever… I mean, with your boyfriend… um…'

Galinda's eyes started to shine. 'Elphie, are you asking me what I think you're asking me?'

'I hope so, because then I won't actually have to say it out loud,' she muttered under her breath, and Galinda let out a squeal. 'Oh, Elphie! You and Fiyero slep-' She was cut off by a green hand clamping over her mouth. 'Shut up!' Elphaba hissed at her, and Galinda squirmed until her friend released her. Elphaba glared at her furiously. 'I can't believe you'd just blurt that out for the entire town to hear!'

Galinda smoothed out her skirt indignantly. 'Well, no one even knows you here. Who cares?'

'I do!'

'Fine, fine.' Galinda sighed. 'So, did you? You and Fiyero?'

Elphaba shook her head, blushing. 'Not yet,' she admitted. 'But we certainly came very close. He wants to, and I think I want it, too, but… I don't know how these things work, you know? Would it be too soon if we did it now?'

Galinda looked at her solemnly – a rare expression for the blonde. 'Do you trust him?'

'I do, but I'm just so…' The green girl sighed again. 'I mean… what if he thinks I'm ugly? _I _think I'm ugly.'

'Oh, Elphie…' Galinda reached over the table to hug her friend, nearly covering her skirt in strawberry ice cream. 'You're not ugly – not at all! And he won't think you are, either. That is about your own insecurities, not about him. Do you trust _him_?'

Elphaba hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Galinda nodded, too. 'Alright. Do you love him?'

'Yes,' she replied, this time instantly, and Galinda smiled. 'Good. And do you feel ready to go there with him?'

'I… I think so,' she confessed. 'I mean, I'm not sure… but can you ever be sure about that?'

Galinda shook her head. 'Not really. So, Elphie, I think you have your answer.'

Elphaba exhaled slowly. 'But he wants to take things slow. He says he doesn't want to rush me.'

'Do you feel like he's rushing you?'

Elphaba shook her head. 'No. I wanted it as much as he did – he was the one to break it off. And I know that he'd never do anything I don't want him to.'

Galinda smiled. 'Then tell him that. You need to assure him that you are ready for it to make him feel ready for it, too. Otherwise he'll feel guilty for pushing you.'

'He won't push me.'

'He tries not to. But he's still afraid you'll feel as if he is.'

Elphaba looked at her friend in awe. 'How do you know all that?'

Galinda smirked. 'It's a matter of experience, really. I know everything about boys, Elphie, you should know that by now.'

The green girl rolled her eyes. 'Of course.' She studied her friend for a moment, head tilted slightly to the side. 'Lin?'

'Mm?' the blonde answered, taking a spoonful of ice cream and melting it on her tongue.

'Have you ever… you know?'

Galinda looked as if the ice cream in her mouth had suddenly turned into a mouthful of beetles. 'Um… well…' she stalled, eating some more ice cream, but her friend just waited patiently for her to finish and finally, she sighed. 'Yes,' she admitted, staring down at her hands. 'But it was… well… it was a few years ago, and he was my boyfriend, but… I wasn't ready,' she confessed. 'He didn't love me and I didn't love him, and it was just… It hurt, like hell, and we broke up a few days later and… and I regret it. I wish I had waited for someone more special to… to do that with. You only have one first time, and I blew mine.' She looked up to meet Elphaba's eyes. 'That's why I want you to make sure you're ready, Elphie. Because… you can only do it once. Afterwards, there's no going back.'

Elphaba smiled at her reassuringly. 'I will. But Lin… if you do wait for the right person, your second time will be so much better than the first time. And that first time won't matter anymore, because then you've done it with the person you love.'

Galinda actually sniffled. 'Since when have you gotten an expert on this area?'

Elphaba chuckled. 'Never. But I'm not wrong, am I?'

Galinda fumbled with her napkin. 'No. You're not.' She sighed. 'That's why I haven't done anything with Paro yet. I just… I'm scared, Elphie,' she confessed, tears in her eyes now. 'I've never done it with anyone after that first time, and just… I'm scared that it'll be horrendible again. That it will hurt, or that he'll just break up with me right afterwards…' She sniffled again, and Elphaba moved over to sit next to her friend and wrap an arm around her shoulders. 'Lin, I'm going to bounce your own advice back to you. Do you trust him?'

Galinda sniffled, but nodded. 'Do you love him?' asked Elphaba, and the blonde nodded again, on the verge of actually crying.

'Are you ready for it?'

Galinda hesitated, then shook her head. 'I don't think so,' she whispered, and Elphaba squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. 'Then don't do it.'

'But what if I'll never be ready?' asked Galinda in a voice barely above a whisper. 'What if I'll always be scared? Perhaps I should just get it over with, and then I'll be less scared, but… but I don't know if I can do that.'

'You should talk to him about it,' Elphaba said solemnly. 'If you really do love and trust him, just talk to him. Tell him what you've told me. Paro is an amazing guy, Galinda. He's kind and compassionate and understanding. He won't let you down.'

Galinda smiled faintly. 'He won't, will he?' She sighed. 'But it's hard. I don't think I can do it.'

Elphaba took both of Galinda's hands and squeezed them. 'You know what important lesson I learned recently about love?'

'What?' asked Galinda in a small voice. Elphaba smiled and squeezed her friend's hands again. 'Sometimes you just have to let go and take a leap of faith.'

Galinda sighed and wrapped her arms around her friend in a long hug. 'Thank you, Elphie.'

Elphaba patted the blonde's back. 'You're very welcome.'

* * *

That night, Galinda and Paro disappeared for a long time – Elphaba could see them through the window, taking a walk on the beach – and when they returned, they were both positively beaming. The green girl grinned at her friend. 'I take it you two are okay?'

'Perfect, actually,' said Galinda, with a big smile on her face. 'Oh, and Elphie? I might not be sleeping in our room tonight.'

Elphaba winked at her. 'Me, neither.'

The boys played cards together for a while, while Galinda insisted on giving both Elphaba and Nessarose – and herself, of course – a beauty treatment, including painting their nails, smearing some kind of rosy goo in their hair, and giving them a facial mask. After that, Nessa and Galinda went to join the boys in the living room to play cards with them.

Paro took Elphaba apart in the hallway for a moment. 'Hey, Elphaba… Galinda told me about your talk earlier, and I just wanted to thank you.'

She blushed and waved him away. 'Oh, don't be ridiculous. It was nothing.'

'It was to us,' he said sincerely, and she smiled softly at him. 'You're welcome. I really hope things work out between you two. You make a cute couple.'

He laughed. 'So do you and Yero. Hey!' He perked up at that. 'We'd be, like, brother-and-sister-in-law!'

She looked at him in exasperation. 'None of us four are related.'

He winked at her. 'Well, the idea would be the same. We could be like one big happy family!'

She shook her head and teased, 'I can see that you've spent way too much time with Galinda already.'

He flashed her a sheepish grin. 'Can you tell?'

She chuckled and patted his shoulder as she walked by. 'I suppose having you as a sort-of-brother-in-law won't be too bad.'

* * *

'Has anyone seen Elphaba?' asked Fiyero later that night when he entered the living room. 'I can't find her anywhere.'

For some reason, the question caused Moss, Laoyar, and Galinda to smirk.

'Yes, I've been looking for her, too,' Boq chimed in. He looked a bit sheepish. 'When I went into town earlier, I, um… I bought her something. To apologise for… for what happened to Nessa this morning.'

Nessa smiled at him and squeezed his arm. 'That's very kind of you, Boq.'

'Shouldn't you be giving _Nessa _something, given that _she's _the one who almost drowned?' asked Laoyar a bit sceptically, and Boq nodded. 'I did get Nessa something, too.' At that cue, Nessa proudly showed off her new necklace. 'But I wanted to get Elphaba something as well,' Boq continued. He bent forward conspiringly. 'I want to try and stay in her good graces. You have no _idea _what happens when Elphaba is mad at you.'

'Something worse than her yelling at you like this morning?' asked Moss curiously, and Boq nodded, wide-eyed. 'Much, much worse.'

Fiyero laughed and Galinda giggled. 'Oh, so you're just trying to buy her off?'

'Secretly,' Boq leaned forward even more and whispered, 'Yes.'

Galinda giggled again. 'Ooh. She heard that.'

Boq's head spun around, searching the room for Elphaba. He quirked an eyebrow at Galinda. 'But she's not here.'

That elicited yet another giggle from Galinda, and Moss and Laoyar were barely stifling their laughter. Fiyero followed their gazes and smiled fondly as he saw what they were looking at. Elphaba was in his own old hiding place: on top of the bookcase. She had apparently climbed up via the protruding stones in the wall, and was now lying on the bookcase on her stomach, her chin resting in her hands. There was a book lying open in front of her, but at that moment, she seemed engrossed in their conversation instead. When she saw that he had discovered her, she gave him a mischievous grin before directing her attention back to Boq, who still hadn't spotted her.

The poor Munchkin didn't understand at all what was going on, and his face was a little flushed. 'What are you guys doing?' he demanded, and Galinda shook her head innocently. 'Nothing.' She flashed a grin up at Elphaba before clearing her throat. 'Seriously, though. Is that how you stayed friends with Elphaba? By buying her off?'

Boq reddened slightly. 'Well… Books help to get back in her good graces.' He shrugged.

'Do you have experience with her getting _really _mad with you?' asked Nessa curiously, knowing what her sister could be like, and Boq shuddered. 'Unfortunately, yes.'

'What happened?' asked Moss, an amused expression on his face. Boq made a sour face. 'She found out why I had asked Nessa to the dance at the OzDust.'

The boys didn't really understand, though Nessa and Galinda shared a smile. Boq had confessed his true reason for asking Nessa that night a few weeks after the incident, and though Nessa had felt a little hurt at first, she was over it now. Galinda still felt a little ashamed of herself for pushing him into doing it, but since everything had worked out well in the end, she decided not to dwell on it.

'She was absolutely furious,' Boq continued. 'I don't think I've ever seen a scarier sight in my entire life.'

Fiyero chuckled, imagining her that angry. He could picture her like that – hands on her hips at first, but she'd soon remove them to start gesturing wildly; cheeks flushed and dark eyes sparkling dangerously with anger… He looked up at her again and a smile graced his lips. He still couldn't quite grasp the fact that she was his now, but he loved every single clock-tick of it.

'Though I bet,' Boq's voice lowered to a whisper, 'I bet she'd be even more furious if she ever found out that I was the one – you know, back when we still all hated each other and stuff… that I was the one who spread that rumour about her being in a romantic relationship with that nerdy little freshman – Karg, or something like that.'

Elphaba shot up at that, bumping her head against the ceiling with a loud _thump _that drew everyone's attention towards her. 'That was _you_?!' she screeched at him, and Boq turned several shades paler. 'Elphaba! I- I didn't know you were up there!'

'Obviously,' Galinda giggled, enjoying the show. Elphaba looked positively murderous and Boq gulped. 'Nessa, please tell your scary sister not to kill me,' he begged, and Nessa giggled softly.

Elphaba pointed an angry finger at Boq. 'Have you got any idea how _annoying _it was that everyone kept asking me about my 'relationship'? For _two months_ before they finally let it go? I kept finding hearts with arrows through them and our names with it _everywhere _– from the teacher's blackboards to little notes on my desk to the _girls bathroom_! I swore to myself that I'd kill the one responsible for spreading that rumour,' she informed him, and he turned even paler. 'I'm sorry!' he spluttered. 'It was back when we weren't friends yet! I didn't know you!'

'So you spread rumours about me,' she stated. 'Because it was _so _much fun to spread rumours about the green girl _you didn't even know_.' Her glare was still dangerous, and Boq realised that he was going to have a hard time getting out of this one. 'I'm _sorry_! It was a year ago! Please don't murder me! Are you going to murder me?'

Moss, Laoyar, Fiyero, Galinda, and even Nessa were having lots of fun seeing Boq squirm under Elphaba's stern gaze, and the green girl tilted her head a little. 'That depends. What did you want to buy me off with?'

Boq gulped again and pulled out the book he had bought for Elphaba, tentatively walking towards the bookcase and holding it up to her, his hands trembling a little. 'Here.'

She took the book from him and her eyes widened as she read the title. 'Oh!' she said, seemingly thrilled. 'I've been wanting to buy this one for _weeks_, but I didn't have the money – or the time – to go and get it…'

'So you like it then?' Boq dared to ask, and she flashed him a dazzling, slightly too innocent smile. 'You're forgiven,' she informed him. 'This time. Next time you do something to piss me off, though, you're going to have to run for your life.'

Boq looked decidedly relieved. 'Deal.'


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: *blushes furiously and hides in a corner with shame* Guys... I am so, so, _so _sorry for that huge, gigantic, major goof in my story. Thank you Confused (and I totally get why you are confused :P) for pointing that out. Because yes, indeed, I first made Elphaba save a little girl from a lake, and after that, I tell you all that she can't swim and that Fiyero is teaching her. It's not part of some major master plan; it's just a case of me writing until too late at night. Blame my tired and chaotic brain. I'm deeply ashamed of myself right now (even though aside from Confused, no one mentioned it - did you not notice it?).**

**Next: a huge, enormous, gigantic virtual chocolate cake for Lexie, both for being the 100th reviewer of this story and for pointing out my own favourite line from last chapter - 'Nessa, please tell your scary sister not to kill me'. **

**1katiemariee: Yes. I remember you reviewing that. You gave me nightmares. (No, just kidding :P. I love your fanaticism.)**

**Furthermore, I guess this chapter is a high T, just so you know - you know, for kissing, and mostly talking about/hinting towards... um... eating pie. (That will make sense after this chapter, I promise. And then you'll also understand why I had so much fun writing this chapter.)**

**Only one more chappie after this, I guess - I'm really inspirationless now that Fiyero is back to life and no one is dying :P. **

**Sorry for that disturbingly long AN.**

* * *

'Elphaba?'

The green girl was sitting at the vanity in the girls' bedroom, brushing her long black hair, and she looked at her younger sister via the mirror. 'What is it, Nessie?'

Nessa looked serious. 'After Galinda gave us that beauty treatment…' Elphaba snorted, and Nessa suppressed a smile before continuing. 'You left after that, but I had a talk with Galinda then.'

Elphaba turned around now. 'What about?'

Nessa hesitated. 'About… um… certain… _things_,' she said uncomfortably, and Elphaba shook her head in exasperation as she realised what her younger sister meant. 'Of course. Why does Galinda feel the need to talk about things like that with everyone?' she demanded. 'In my opinion, it's not really a topic you discuss with so many people, but that could just be me.'

'You know Galinda,' said Nessa, and Elphaba had to admit that was true. Galinda talked about _everything _with _everyone_. If there really was going to happen something between her and Paro tonight, they shouldn't even be surprised if they'd find that Galinda had printed it in the newspaper the next day.

When she voiced that thought out loud, Nessa giggled. 'Yeah… she's been raised much differently from us,' she admitted. 'But… well… Like I said, we talked. Also about you.'

Elphaba flushed and buried her face in her hands. 'Oh, sweet Oz, please tell me she didn't.'

'She didn't say much,' Nessa hastened to clarify. 'Just that you really never did something like that with Fiyero… or with any guy,' she added, at which Elphaba couldn't help but feel slightly offended. 'Did you really think I was lying to you?' she demanded, her voice a little higher than usual. 'Nessa? What _did _you think, exactly? That I've been sleeping with the entire population of Shiz already?'

Nessa blushed. 'No… No, I'm sorry, Fabala, I didn't mean that.' She sighed. 'I… I don't really know how to say this,' she then confessed. 'I never talk about these things.' Well, that much was true, Elphaba thought. Where Galinda would share her experiences with her best friend – and every other person that was willing to listen – on nearly every area, Nessarose was just too proper to discuss topics like these with… well, anyone, really.

'The point is,' said Nessa, 'that Galinda convinced me of something.' Her hazel eyes met Elphaba's. 'I know father raised us with the notion that it is wrong to… to…'

'Sleep with someone?' offered Elphaba, and Nessa sighed irritably. '"Sleeping with someone" sounds so blunt,' she complained. 'Can't we call it something else?'

Elphaba stifled a laugh. 'We can call it… eating pie?' she suggested, and Nessa actually giggled. 'Fine. At least that way I won't be having any trouble saying it.' She took a breath. 'So father told us not to eat pie before we were married…'

Elphaba was grinning broadly. 'Yes.'

'But Galinda…' Nessa closed her eyes for a brief moment and became serious again. 'She convinced me that… Fabala, everyone can see that you and Fiyero really love each other, so perhaps if you're ready… you… you should just do it. I know you, and I know you would be careful and not get pregnant or anything like that…'

Elphaba's eyes widened slightly at that. 'Oh, no,' she assured her sister. '_Never_. I'm not at all ready for that – not to mention that father would kill me. Or lock me up somewhere. Or both.'

'What I'm trying to say is just that if you want to do that, if you're ready…' She looked up at her sister solemnly. 'I won't judge you.'

Elphaba couldn't suppress a grin. 'You're giving me your blessing to eat pie with Fiyero?'

Nessa laughed. 'Yes.'

Her sister walked over to her and hugged her. 'Thank you, Nessie. That really means a lot to me.'

'Thank Galinda,' Nessa said, and Elphaba nodded solemnly. 'I will.'

Just then, Galinda entered the room, smiling at the sisters as she started rummaging through her closet. 'What are you guys talking about?'

'Pie,' said Nessa drily, and Elphaba buried her face in a blanket to stifle her laughter.

Galinda looked at Nessa, then at Elphaba, and shook her head. 'You two are crazy,' she declared, before pulling out two nightgowns and holding them up. 'The sexy red one or the short pink one with the low neckline?'

'Does it matter?' Elphaba asked pointedly. 'You're going to take it off within minutes of you entering his room, anyway.'

Nessa looked up at the blonde wide-eyed. 'You're really going to eat pie? Tonight?' she asked in wonder, sending Elphaba into another fit of laughter at the look on Galinda's face. 'What is it with you and pie?' the blonde demanded, and Nessa quickly explained to her what it meant. Galinda giggled then, too. 'Ooh. That makes sense.' She winked at her best friend. 'What about you, Elphie? Up for some pie tonight?'

Nessa met her gaze solemnly. 'Are you sure you are ready for that, Fabala?' she asked, and Elphaba smiled at her and nodded. 'If you don't mind sleeping here alone tonight…'

'I don't,' Nessa assured her. 'I'll be fine.'

Elphaba flashed her a grin. 'Then I'm ready for some pie.'

* * *

Galinda didn't really care that everyone would know that she'd sleep in Paro's room tonight – she practically skipped through the hallways to his room in her terrifyingly short red nightgown, making Moss, Boq, and Laoyar's eyes practically fall out of their heads – but Elphaba wanted to be more discreet and decided to wait until everyone was asleep before she'd to go Fiyero's room. She listened intently as the boys went to bed. _Just a little bit longer_, she told herself sleepily as her eyes started to drift shut.

The next thing she knew, she awoke with a start. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she realised that she was still in her own room – splayed out on top of her blankets. She must have fallen asleep waiting and she cursed herself. She couldn't very well go and see Fiyero _now _– it was the middle of the night.

Just then, she heard footsteps in the hallway and realised that was what had woke her up in the first place. She pushed her hair out of her face and sat up as the door slowly opened and Fiyero poked his head inside. 'Fae?'

She could hear that his breathing was ragged and even in the dark, she could distinguish the haunted look in his eyes. She got up and moved towards him. 'Nightmare?'

'Yeah,' he said sheepishly, raking his fingers through his hair. 'I'm sorry I woke you up-'

'I _told_ you to wake me up if you had another nightmare, remember?' she reminded him gently. 'I don't mind. Come on.' She tugged at his arm and closed her own bedroom door behind her as they moved to Fiyero's.

He looked at her as they both crawled under the blankets. 'You really don't mind…?'

'I wanted to come sleep here anyway,' she confessed, and he looked confused, then slightly hurt as he asked her softly, 'Why didn't you? You didn't think I'd turn you away, did you? Because-'

She rolled her eyes at him. 'Do you ever let anyone else talk?'

He grinned a bit sheepishly, and she kissed him. 'No, Yero. None of the reasons you think. I just didn't want everyone to see me sneaking into your room, so I decided to wait until everyone had gone to bed… and I fell asleep. Happy now?'

He stifled a chuckle as he wrapped his arms around her and breathed in her scent. 'I'm so glad you're here.'

'How bad was it?' she asked him, and she felt him shudder a little. 'I don't want to talk about it.'

'That bad?'

His grip on her tightened. 'Yeah. That bad.'

She leaned up and kissed him softly. 'I'm sorry. I wish I could make them go away for you.'

He pressed his cheek against her chest, listening to her calm and steady heartbeat, which calmed him down a little. His fingers slipped under the shirt she was wearing – she _hated _nightgowns, so she usually just slept in an oversized shirt – to trail soft circles on her bare back. 'I love you.' It came out as a sigh.

She rolled on top of him and leaned down to kiss him again. 'I love you too.'

'So much.' He moaned as he tangled his fingers in her hair. 'How did I ever live without you?'

'Now don't get cheesy,' she told him sternly and a little breathlessly between kisses, and he laughed softly. She trailed her fingers down his bare chest and he planted butterfly kisses on her throat and down to her collarbone. His own fingers caressed her back, and he sighed as her lips found his again, deepening the kiss almost immediately. After a while, however, he pulled away. 'Elphaba…'

'What?' Her voice was a little husky, almost sounding like a cat's purr. He could practically _feel_ his common sense – for as far as it had been there in the first place - slipping away. 'You should stop… doing this to me,' he breathed, and she pulled back a little to look at him with wide, innocent eyes. 'Why?'

He moaned. 'I can't… I mean…' He groaned as she started brushing her lips over his chest and he let his head fall back. 'Fae… Please stop. You're driving me crazy…'

'I like you crazy,' she said, her eyes dark, and he lifted his head to look at her. 'But you're not ready.'

'Who are you to say if I'm ready or not?' she murmured, kissing his chest once again. 'I'm ready. I've never been more ready in my life.'

His fingers played with the hem of her shirt. 'Your father…'

'My father is not a part of this relationship.' She rolled her eyes. 'Thank Oz.'

'What if Nessa finds out?'

'Nessa is not a part of our relationship either,' she said, smiling a little, 'but even then, I talked to her and she's okay with it.'

'But… didn't we agree to wait?' he tried again, but she shook her head. '_You _said it was probably better for us to wait. And I agreed, because I wasn't sure if I _was _ready… but I am now.' She looked into his eyes and brushed her lips against his. 'I love you, Yero,' she breathed. 'And I want to be yours. Utterly and fully and completely yours.'

She leaned forward, allowing her long hair to tickle his chest, knowing that would completely undo him. He moaned softly and rolled over, pinning her underneath him, kissing her fervently. 'Are you absolutely sure?'

She kissed him. 'I've never been so sure of anything in my life.'

That was the only answer he needed, and soon, they were completely lost in each other.

* * *

When Elphaba awoke the next morning, she was feeling snug, warm, and comfortable. Without even opening her eyes, she could feel Fiyero beside her; and she smiled softly as she snuggled closer to him and tried to go back to sleep.

When he felt her stir, however, he opened his own eyes to look at her. 'Hey.'

'Hey,' she murmured sleepily, nuzzling his neck. He was smiling, too, but his smile faded slightly as he studied her and his brow furrowed a little. 'Are you okay?' he asked in mild concern, and she stretched beside him before opening her eyes and looking up at him. 'I'm perfect.'

'Really?' he asked a little anxiously. 'I mean… Didn't it… hurt?'

'A little, at first,' she admitted, and he cringed a little, hating the thought of him hurting her. She cupped his cheek and gazed into his eyes. 'It was nothing, Yero.' She kissed him softly. 'I mean it. I'm perfect. Amazing. Never been better.'

He had to smile at that, and he wrapped her tighter in his arms as she relished in his body warmth. He softly stroked her bare back and she planted a kiss on his chest. 'I wish we could just stay here, like this, forever.'

His chuckle vibrated in his chest. 'I do, too. But we'll have to get up soon, or someone will be coming for us again and we don't really want that, do we?'

She shot up. 'You _did _lock the door this time, didn't you?'

'Of course I did,' he chuckled, pulling her back down, and she breathed a sigh of relief. That Galinda and Nessa knew what had happened last night, didn't mean she wanted them to walk in on her and Fiyero like this – or anyone else, for that matter. But just then, as if he'd heard their conversation, there was a bang on the door. 'Breakfast is ready!' Boq yelled through the door before moving on to the next one.

Elphaba buried her face in Fiyero's neck. 'Whose breakfast?' she demanded. 'Oz knows I'm the only one who can cook around here.'

He chuckled again. 'Let's hope we won't get food poisoning, then.'

They did get up after a while, entering the kitchen hand in hand, and both Galinda and Nessa smirked at the green girl. They all sat down as Moss presented them a large plate with pancakes. 'Here you go!' he announced. 'The only thing I can cook without burning either the food, the kitchen, or myself.'

'Yum, pancakes!' said Boq, a gleam in his eyes, as he started shoving the stuff onto his own plate. As Moss slapped his hand away and started handing everyone equal portions of pancakes, Nessa quirked an eyebrow at her sister. 'So, Fabala… Did you still eat that pie last night?'

Galinda choked on her pancake with laughter and Elphaba grinned at her sister. 'I fell asleep at first,' she admitted, 'but later, yes, I still did eat the pie.'

'Was it good?' asked Galinda with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, and Elphaba grinned at her. 'Oh, yes. It was one delicious pie.'

'What about you, Galinda?' Nessa then asked, giggling. 'How was your pie?'

Galinda sighed dreamily. 'Oh… my pie was _so _much better than the first pie I had.' Elphaba gave her a knowing smile, which Galinda returned. 'Thank you, Elphie. If you hadn't talked to me about… um… eating pie… I would never have gotten over it.'

Elphaba chuckled. 'You're welcome, Lin.'

The men, meanwhile, were just staring at the girls in bewilderment, until Boq broke the silence, announcing, 'I also ate pie last night.'

Nessa's eyes nearly bulged out of her head in genuine shock before she realised that Boq was _actually _talking about eating pie – he had no idea what else 'eating pie' could mean but just 'eating pie', after all. Galinda started laughing hysterically at the other girl's face and soon, all three girls were doubled over their plates with laughter, while the guys still didn't understand one bit of it.

Suddenly, Elphaba stopped laughing. 'Wait a clock-tick,' she said, narrowing her eyes at the Munchkin boy. 'Didn't I tell you _specifically _that no one was to touch that coconut cream pie I made?' she asked him in a dangerously low voice, and Boq gulped. 'Um… You… You might have mentioned it… but I… Oh, come on, Elphaba,' he then whined. 'You can't make a _coconut cream pie _and then expect me not to eat it! Your coconut cream pies are _amazing_!'

Her eyes only narrowed even further. 'What did I tell you about certain Munchkins having to run for their lives if they ever pissed off a certain green girl again?'

His eyes went wide. 'Oh, Oz.'

'Nessa,' said Elphaba drily, 'please say goodbye to your boyfriend now.'

Nessa was laughing. 'Oh, Fabala, please just leave him alone. He can't help it.'

'I made that pie for tonight's dessert!' Elphaba complained, before heaving a sigh. 'Very well, then. No dessert for you tonight, Master Boq.'

His face fell and Fiyero glared at the Munchkin. 'Yeah, Boq, no dessert for you.'

'Elphaba!' he whined. 'It was only a small piece! I can have some more tonight, can't I?'

She glowered at him. 'No, you can't.'

'But Elphaba!' Boq tried to convince her. 'You can't just give me _nothing _tonight and let me watch how all of _you _eat a delicious pie together!'

Nessa, Galinda, and Elphaba exchanged a look. Then they all simultaneously burst out in almost hysterical laughter.

* * *

'Are you nervous about going back to Shiz?' asked Galinda when she and Elphaba were sitting on a towel on the beach together, the final day of their vacation. Elphaba sighed. 'I don't know. I mean… would they even _believe _it? That I'm dating Fiyero? And if they do… I'm pretty sure they're going to bug me about it. I mean, I'm his _step_sister for Oz's sake.'

Galinda made a face. 'Yeah… that's still slightly disturbing.' Elphaba glared at her and she quickly added, 'But you two make a cute couple! And you're not _real _siblings, so what does it matter?'

'True,' acknowledged Elphaba. 'I suppose I'll just ignore them. I mean, I've been stared at and whispered about all my life – now will just be for a different reason.'

'I _really _don't want to go back to school,' whined Galinda. 'I mean… I'll have to _study _again.' She shuddered, and Elphaba laughed and opened her mouth to say something, but her blonde friend cut her off. 'I know what you're about to say, Elphie. Studying is exactly the reason why _you _are looking _forward _to going back, isn't it?'

Elphaba nodded a bit sheepishly and Galinda rolled her eyes. 'Well, _I _for one am just looking forward to all the parties there,' she said longingly. 'You know, it's Milla's birthday right after the summer, so she's probably going to do a party at the OzDust…'

'Oh, joy,' Elphaba said drily, and Galinda rolled her eyes again at her friend. 'Never _mind_, Elphie. Come on, let's go swimming.'

They spent the rest of their final day at the beach, and the next day, they left early in the morning. Elphaba snuggled up against Fiyero and slept most of the journey back, which he didn't really mind as long as she was in his arms; and since Galinda also fell asleep after a while, her head resting against Paro's shoulder, the two childhood friends talked quietly most of the time. 'How _are _you now, Yero?' Paro asked him after a while. 'Physically, I mean?'

'I'm fine,' Fiyero assured him. 'I mean, I still tire easily, but that's about all of it.'

'Will you be returning to Shiz next week or are you going to stay at home for some more time?' his friend wanted to know, and Fiyero looked at him as if though he were crazy. 'Elphaba is returning to Shiz next week,' he said as if that was to explain everything, and Paro rolled his eyes at him. 'I never imagined you to be the clingy kind.'

'I'm not clingy!' Fiyero protested, but Paro shook his head. 'You can't even be separated from her for a few weeks?'

'I almost got separated from her forever,' he said quietly, and Paro complied. 'You're right. I guess you have the right to be clingy.' He sighed dramatically. 'Take pity on me, though. Linny will be returning to Shiz, but _I _will have to go back to university _here_ and I won't see her again until Lurlinemas!' he complained, and Fiyero grinned and patted his knee consolingly. 'You can write, can't you?'

'Sure,' Paro agreed miserably, 'but still…'

Fiyero could imagine what he felt like. He didn't even want to _think _about being apart from Elphaba for that long, not seeing her, just writing letters. 'Perhaps you could come over to Shiz in a weekend sometime,' he suggested, and Paro's eyes lit up at that. 'That's actually a really good idea!'

'I have good ideas sometimes,' said Fiyero sarcastically, and his friend grinned at him. 'Sometimes.'

'On rare occasions.'

'_Extremely _rare occasions.'

Fiyero scowled at him. 'Don't push your luck.'

When they arrived, they were greeted enthusiastically by Lori and not-so-enthusiastically by Frex – save for Nessa, that is. 'Yero!' The Queen hugged her son tightly. 'How are you? Are you feeling okay? Did you have fun?'

'I'm fine, Mom,' Fiyero assured her. He grinned at Elphaba. 'And yeah. We had lots of fun.'

She blushed furiously at that, but thankfully, no one noticed. 'So what did you do?' asked Lori, and Galinda giggled. 'Oh… all kinds of things. Swimming, sunbathing, cooking – or, well, Elphaba did the cooking… Fiyero and Paro played the guitar and we sang songs,' she added. 'We went into town one time, to shop and to take a look at the fun fair. Oh yeah, and we ate pie,' she announced in a serious tone of voice.

Elphaba choked. Nessa burst out in a fit of hysterical giggles.

Lori just looked at them with a smile on her face and shook her head. 'I don't even want to know, do I?'

'You _really _don't,' Nessa assured her between giggles, and Frex frowned at his precious daughter, then shook his head and sighed, deciding he, too, probably didn't even want to know what this was about. 'I don't understand one bit of this,' he muttered under his breath.

Lori smiled as she linked her arm with her husband's. 'They're teenagers,' she told him as if that explained everything. 'I would be worried if you _did _understand them.'


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Yes, I know. I won't ever look at pie the same way again, either :P.**

**Your favourite lines were my favourites, too :). And kudos for Lexie, who picked up the tiny little Yero my hero reference I couldn't resist sneaking in even though I thought no one would notice it :D. **

**So, yes, the final chapter. I couldn't really think of anything else to write, and since I still have Made to be broken and Shadows going at the moment, I thought I'd just wrap it up here. **

* * *

It was the day before the group would return to Shiz when Frex entered the library, where Elphaba was sitting in the window seat, reading a book.

'Elphaba?' She looked up in surprise. Frex never came to voluntarily talk to her unless he wanted something of her. 'Yes, father?'

His eyes were icy cold as he took in her appearance. 'I just overheard a conversation between Miss Upland and her boyfriend.'

Elphaba closed her book, frowning. 'What kind of conversation?'

Only now did she notice that he was barely holding back his anger and her stomach clenched. She had an idea of what he must have heard… and if she was right, she was in big trouble.

Frex stared her down. 'A conversation in which Miss Upland explained to young Master Paro what she really meant by 'eating pie'.'

Elphaba swallowed difficultly. Yes, she was in big trouble.

'Elphaba…' He took a deep breath, obviously in an attempt to calm himself, but that attempt failed miserably. 'Did you sleep with Prince Fiyero?'

She could lie, of course, but she hated lying. Inevitably, he would find out the truth sooner or later, and she would be in even bigger trouble when he did. So she averted her eyes and mumbled, 'Yes.'

Silence fell over the room. She risked a glance at his face and gulped. He was beet red, almost purple, clearly fuming with rage. 'Elphaba-'

'I know you don't approve, father,' she said as calmly as possible, rising to her feet steadily. 'But it's my life and I make my own choices. I love Fiyero, and we were careful. I can assure you I'd never let myself get pregnant or anything like that.'

He opened and closed his mouth a few times. Then he struck her across the face.

Her hand flew up to her stinging cheek, startled, as she gaped at him. No matter how coolly he had treated her sometimes, or how many chores he had made her do, how little affection he showed, he had never physically hurt her. Ever. He had took her completely by surprise.

'You,' he said in a low voice that didn't promise much good, 'are just as much of a whore as your mother was.'

That did it. Her body trembled with her attempts to hold it in, but it was fruitless; the books in the library started to shudder, the glass windows were rattling in their frames, and Frex's eyes went wide as he realised what was happening. 'Elphaba…' he began, but by then, she'd fled the library, running towards her own bedroom as fast as she could. She locked the door behind her and sat herself down on her bed, desperately trying to calm herself down. She knew it had been the right decision to get out of there. She didn't think she'd ever been this angry in her entire life, and she had been afraid of what she might do. She could have killed Frex, she knew. She could take his insults and insinuations about _her_, but to hear him call her mother a whore…

Fiyero, who had seen her run by and followed her to her room, knocked on the door. 'Fae?' he called worriedly, but she didn't answer.

He turned around. Nessa, Boq, Galinda, Paro, Moss, Laoyar, and his mother had also gathered in the hallway, their attention drawn by the noise. 'What's going on?' asked Nessa in confusion, and Fiyero shook his head. 'I don't know. She just ran to her room… she's locked the door.'

Just then, Frex came stomping through the hallway, his face one giant thundercloud, his fists clenched. He roughly pushed Fiyero aside and started hammering on the door. 'Elphaba Melena Thropp!' he roared. 'I am not finished with you yet! Come out of that room immediately or I swear I'm going to-'

The door flew open to reveal the green girl. Perhaps if Frex had stayed away, she would have been able to calm down enough to get her magic under control again; but just hearing his voice and seeing him now sent her into another fit of rage. Electricity sparks cracked and crackled between her fingertips and fury sparked in her dark brown eyes.

Frex, however, seemed oblivious to the state she was in. 'Elphaba Thropp, I will _not _have you disgrace me and your sister by-'

'Being born?' she spat, and he faltered.

'Yes, father,' she continued, her voice dangerously low. 'I know you blame me for Momma's death and for Nessa's disability. I know you never loved me. And I took it. I took it all. I did as you asked – I took care of Nessa, I took care of the household. I let you insult me and ignore me, and I never so much as _mentioned _the way you treated me. But I will _not _stand by and let you call my mother a whore!' Her voice had been steadily rising throughout her tirade, and she screamed the last words at him. A shocked silence fell after her words.

'Frex…' said Lori, completely shocked, and Nessa stared at the Governor with wide eyes. 'Father?'

'She was!' Frex spat, ignoring everyone, gaze fixed on his eldest daughter. 'She was unfaithful to me! She thought I didn't know that, but I did! I do! She was a whore, Elphaba, and I tried my hardest to prevent you two from turning into the same thing. Didn't I raise you well? Didn't I teach you not to do these things until you were married? You were right, Elphaba – your birth _was _a disgrace. So is that horrendible _magic _of yours. But sleeping with a boy before marriage? Have you completely misplaced your mind?'

Everyone was gaping at them now. Elphaba's voice was low again as she said, 'Just because I slept with someone, does _not _mean I'm a whore, father. I love Fiyero, and he loves me. Just because we're not married, doesn't mean we're not going to spend the rest of our lives together.'

'Oh, so now you're going to tell me that he was your first and last?' Frex scoffed. 'That you haven't been sleeping around with other boys for Oz knows how long and that you would never sleep with another boy now that you have with him? Do you really think I believe that?'

Elphaba blanched visibly at what he was implying and the windows started rattling again as her rage built up. Lori, however, stepped in this time.

'Frexspar Thropp!' she said in a voice that was trembling with barely held-back anger. 'I will _not _allow you to speak that way to your own daughter in _my _house, nor will I allow you to say these things about your late wife. I think _you _are the one who has completely misplaced his mind here. You can't possibly believe what you're saying!'

'Oh, I believe it!' Frex snarled, staring daggers at his eldest daughter. 'I always knew she was an aberration. You want to know why I always favoured Nessa over you?' he threw at Elphaba. 'Because Nessa has been a good daughter. Nessa wasn't born green. Nessa didn't kill her mother and cripple her sister. Nessa doesn't have those sinful magic powers. Nessa never disgraced me. Nessa would never do something like this!'

A heavy silence fell again. Elphaba tried her hardest to hold back her tears, but they were blurring her vision already. She'd argued with her father many times before, but he'd never outright said to her what she had always suspected he was thinking. He had never outright _blamed _her for Melena's death and Nessa's disability. To hear the words coming from his mouth now was more painful than she could have imagined.

She felt Galinda move to her side, taking her hand and squeezing it. 'You're not an aberration, Elphie,' she whispered. 'Don't listen to what he's saying.'

Elphaba brushed her off. 'No, he's right,' she said flatly. 'I am an aberration and a disgrace to him, and it is my fault that Nessa is crippled and that Momma is dead.' She looked up at Frex. 'And you're right, too, in thinking that Nessa would never do such a thing. But true as that may be, it doesn't make me a whore. Fiyero _was _my first and he _will _be my last. And Momma was not a whore, either.' _I can't blame her for favouring other men over you_, she wanted to add, but she didn't. He was still her father, and she didn't want to say things she might regret later.

Frex, however, was still not impressed. 'You _are _a whore,' he hissed at her. 'And I can only be grateful that the Unnamed God sent me my perfect Nessa to make up for all the disgraces you bestow upon our family.'

By now, Nessa had heard enough and she couldn't stand it anymore. Before her father had even completely finished speaking, she blurted out, 'I slept with Boq.'

The silence that had followed Frex's words before was nothing to the silence that fell now. Galinda and Laoyar were actually staring at Nessa open-mouthed, Moss' eyes nearly bulged out of his head and Boq looked decidedly flushed and uncomfortable. Frex, however, looked as if he was about to faint. 'What?' he choked out.

Nessa raised her chin defiantly, and in that instant, Elphaba noted with a twinge of pride, her younger sister looked every ounce the Governess she would once become. 'I slept with Boq. So, if you're going to call Fabala a whore, you can call _me _one, too.'

Galinda was staring at the girl in amazement. 'When?' she asked in a high-pitched voice, and Nessa smiled slightly. 'The night you and Fabala did it, too. I don't know, I woke up in the middle of the night and I went to sit outside or a while, and then in the hallway, I ran into Boq… I thought about the conversation I had with you, Galinda, and with Elphaba, and then, one thing just led to another.'

'Why didn't you _tell _us?' Galinda demanded, and Nessa blushed. 'I… I didn't know how,' she admitted. 'You all thought I was so proper, and would never do something like that, and then I suddenly did, and… I thought you would laugh at me,' she said softly, lowering her eyes, and Galinda squealed and ran over to hug her friend. 'Oh, Nessa! Congratulotions, this is huge!'

Nessa smiled at the blonde, then looked back at her father and her gaze turned serious again. 'Well?'

'You're not a whore, Nessa,' the Governor said quietly, and Nessa bristled. 'Oh, _I'm _not, but Elphaba is? So if _I _tell you that Boq was my first and will be my last, you _will _believe me?'

Frex's silence was answer enough and disappointment was written all over Nessa's face. 'I'm sorry you feel that way, father,' she said quietly. 'I'm ashamed of you right now. Elphaba is your daughter, too, you know, and she has never given you any reason to treat her the way you do.' She locked eyes with her father. 'She didn't choose to be born green. It wasn't her fault that Momma died and that I was born crippled. It's not her fault she sometimes loses control over her powers. And she is no more a whore than I am.'

Frex stared at his youngest daughter, a look of mild amazement in his eyes as he calmed down considerably. 'Nessa…' He shook his head and looked back at his eldest daughter. 'Elphaba.'

She looked up, meeting his gaze.

'I'm sorry.'

She nodded in acknowledgement, feeling immensely relieved, and Galinda wrapped her arms around the green girl to give her a hug. Frex's gaze lingered. 'He really was your first?'

Elphaba nodded.

Frex looked at Fiyero. 'And you… you really do love her?'

'I do,' he said, stepping closer towards Elphaba and wrapping his arm around her waist as she leaned into his touch. Frex nodded. 'I see. And… do you intend to marry her?'

Elphaba looked up at the Prince hesitantly, but Fiyero didn't falter for a moment and his answer was firm. 'Yes.'

Frex nodded again, then turned and strode away. They all let out a breath and Elphaba's knees buckled in relief. Fiyero's arms around her were the only thing that kept her from falling to the floor. 'Fae…'

'I'm okay,' she said hoarsely, blinking away her tears. 'I'm okay.' She looked at her younger sister. 'Thank you, Nessie,' she said sincerely.

Nessa sighed. 'I should have done this a long time ago,' she said quietly, but Elphaba shook her head. 'It's okay.'

Galinda drew in her breath with a sharp hiss. 'Elphie?' She gingerly touched Elphaba's cheek – the spot where Frex had hit her. 'Is that…'

Fiyero's eyes widened when he saw the spot and Elphaba sighed. 'Yes,' she admitted reluctantly, and she immediately felt Fiyero tense beside her. 'I'm going to kill him,' he declared and he made to stalk off, but Elphaba and Galinda held him back. 'Don't. Please,' said Elphaba beseechingly. 'It's not important anymore.'

'Are you sure you're alright, sweetheart?' Lori asked her, and Elphaba nodded. The Queen smiled and pulled her into a hug. 'For the record: I'm proud of you,' she said solemnly, gazing into her stepdaughter's eyes for a moment before turning around to look at Nessa. 'Both of you.'

Elphaba and Nessa both returned the smile and the Queen nodded. 'I'm going after your father, now, then… but I think his apologising was a big step forward.'

Fiyero snorted. 'A big step forward? Apologising for calling your own daughter a whore?' His grip around Elphaba's waist tightened. 'Where I come from, we call that 'normal'.'

Lori rolled her eyes at her son. 'I know, Yero, but you know that Frex and Elphaba's relationship has always been… different,' she said, and this time it was Galinda who snorted. 'You could say that.'

Elphaba, however, brushed them both off. 'No… Lori is right,' she said, slightly amazed that her father _had_, actually, apologised to her. 'He's never apologised to me before in his life… I do think it's a huge step forward.'

'I hope so,' Fiyero muttered under his breath, and she smiled and kissed him. 'Did you mean that?' she asked softly, and he immediately knew what she was talking about and drew her in his arms. 'Yes, Fae, I definitely intend to marry you one day. Now that I have you, I'm never going to let you go again.'

* * *

Going back to Shiz, Fiyero discovered within a week of their return, was _not _good for his and Elphaba's relationship.

There were the practical problems, of course, of not really having a place to be together in private – there was his dorm room, but officially, girls weren't allowed to spend the night there. He was confident that he could sneak her in and out without anyone noticing, but she wouldn't let him. If anything, she was growing more and more distant by the day, and he knew exactly why. So he tried to talk to her about it.

'Hey, Fae,' he said casually, plopping down onto the grass next to her. She glanced up from her book for a moment and he couldn't help but notice her face falling when she saw it was him. 'Oh. Hi.' She closed her book and started putting it in her bag, clearly intending to leave. 'Actually, I was just going…'

He caught her arm and pulled her back down. 'No, you weren't.' He tried to gaze into her eyes. She averted them. 'Fae… why are you avoiding me?'

She opened her mouth and he cut her off before she even said anything. 'Don't deny it. I know you are.'

She closed her mouth again and sighed, raking her fingers through her hair. 'Fiyero… they're talking about you,' she said unhappily. 'They're whispering behind your back, and they're gossiping…'

'Because I'm dating you.'

'Yes.'

'So?'

She seemed taken aback by that. '_So_… I'm ruining your reputation,' she said slowly, as if talking to a dense child. 'And I don't want that. It's not that I don't love you, or don't want to be with you – not at all. I'm just… I'm staying away for your own good.'

He shook his head. 'I think I can decide for myself what's good for me, thank you very much.' She looked wary at that, and he took her hands in his. 'Fae… I don't care one bit about my reputation. I love you, and the whole world can know.' Suddenly, his face lit up and she eyed him suspiciously. 'You have a plan,' she concluded upon seeing his face. 'And knowing you and your plans, I don't think I'm going to like this one.'

He just grinned at her and rose, extending a hand towards her. 'Come on.'

She let him pull her to her feet and he looked around. 'It's lunch break, right?'

'Right.'

'So there will be lots of people on the square?'

She didn't trust this one bit. 'Yes…'

'Perfect.' He dragged her with him towards the square, where a pretty impressive portion of the Shiz student population was indeed sitting, talking or eating their lunch. Fiyero jumped onto the base of the statue in the middle of the square and yelled, 'Fellow students, may I have your attention please!'

Elphaba buried her face in her hands and moaned, 'Oh, no.' Everyone was staring at Fiyero right now, and he looked around solemnly. 'Since I caught a few rumours flying around here and there, I decided to clear some things up,' he declared. 'I can assure you this. It's true that I am currently dating Elphaba Thropp.'

The students muttered something. Elphaba hissed, 'Fiyero! Get back down here right now!' but of course, he didn't listen.

'It is not true, however,' he continued, counting on his fingers, 'that I am doing so because I lost a bet or because she blackmailed or magic-spelled me. In fact, I am repulsed by whoever came up with that rumour. If you can hear me: I will find out who you are and I'm going to kill you.'

Elphaba caught Avaric quickly shuffling behind another student's back, and she smirked. Of course it had been him.

'The truth is as simple as this.' Fiyero straightened his back and declared loudly, 'I love Elphaba Thropp.'

'Fiyero!' she hissed in shock, but he ignored her. 'Yes, you heard that right,' he said triumphantly, and then yelled at the top of his lungs, 'I LOVE ELPHABA THROPP!'

A few girls giggled and some others let out a soft, 'Aw'. Fiyero grinned at them. 'In fact,' he went on, 'I would ask her to marry me right here and now…'

'Please don't!' she begged him, and he gave her a beaming smile. 'Only she would kill me if I did, so I'll spare her that. But still, I just wanted to clear this up for you. Yes, she's my stepsister – but my mother's relationship with her father has nothing to do with my relationship with her. We're not related by blood, so it's not immoral or gross. Deal with it. Boys,' he addressed his fellow male students, 'I'm really sorry for taking away the most beautiful girl in all of Shiz,' she blushed furiously at that, 'but really, can you blame me? So, if you have any questions left, you can always ask me.' He bowed theatrically. 'Thank you for your attention.' With that, he jumped down again and the students within earshot gave him a small applause.

Elphaba's face was flushed bright red when he walked back to her with a radiant grin on his face and wrapped an arm around her. 'You are such an idiot,' she told him, punching his arm, but he only kissed her temple. 'It's true. Perhaps this will stop their gossiping.' He gazed into her eyes. 'And even if it doesn't, I meant every word I said. And I don't care about any of them, Fae. All I care about is you.'

She blushed again and he gently pulled her closer to kiss her. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back. And in that moment, she knew he was right.

It didn't matter what other people thought about their relationship. As she'd said to him before, other people weren't a part of it. All that mattered was that she had him, and he had her, and that was the end of it.

He nuzzled her cheek, and she whispered to him, 'You were right.'

He trailed soft kisses down her neck. 'About what?'

She sighed happily. 'About… about what you said earlier,' she said, looking at him solemnly. 'About letting go.'

He smiled against her skin and pulled away to look back at her. 'You listened to me, didn't you? You let go.'

She nodded and he lightly caressed her cheek with his fingers. 'And how did you like it?'

She chuckled. 'I'd say…' She paused, then leaned up to kiss him softly. 'I'd say it's not such a bad thing to do every now and then.'

He smiled again and kissed her back. 'Want to come to my room?'

She slipped her arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked away together. 'Gladly.'

* * *

**Thank you all so much for sticking with me throughout this story (and throughout my other stories!) and for reviewing, following, or adding the story to your favourites. I love you for it. **

**VIRTUAL PIE TO YOU ALL! *cackle***


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